Rachit Vats
Advertising

Creative duo behind ‘Milano’ campaign quit Everest

Vijay Lalwani and Makarand Patil, who were working as partners as creative directors at Everest, have quit the agency. While Lalwani moves to McCann-Erickson, Patil is contemplating a move to Singapore

Vijay Lalwani and Makarand Patil (Mak, as he is affectionately called), creative directors at Everest Brand Solutions, have put in their papers. They were with the agency’s Mumbai branch. While Lalwani has locked upon his next destination, Patil is still exploring his options and evaluating the offers he has in hand.

Lalwani is moving to McCann-Erickson, Mumbai, as creative director, while Mak is planning to go abroad, preferably to Singapore, and work with an agency there.

Both Lalwani and Mak have been working as partners at Everest since June 2005. They were responsible for building up the romance in Parle’s Milano TVC. Between them, they have worked on campaigns such as Monaco, Milk Shakti, Anit Marie Bureau and Hide and Seek. They have worked together on at least 30 films.

Creative duo behind ‘Milano’ campaign quit Everest
Vijay Lalwani
Lalwani is a BFA graduate from AKMV Pune. He started his career in a design and a creative boutique, Laughter and Design. He joined the agency as a partner in March 1998. In 2001, he joined PSL Erickson, Pune, as creative director, following which he moved to O&M Mumbai as art director in 2002. Later in 2002, he joined Everest as creative director.

Says Lalwani, “There was a lot of learning about creative and edgy advertising at Ogilvy. It was in Ogilvy that I took up copy as I showed promise. Two years later, I moved to Everest to play a larger role and hone my strategic skills. The reason for joining McCann is simple. It is a larger platform with more brands, more resources and network muscle. I am looking forward to working with Prasoon.”

Brands he has worked on include Hutch, Sprite, Fanta, Ponds, Seagrams, Coke, MTV, ‘The Times Of India’, Godrej, Tortoise, and Bajaj Auto. He has also won a host of awards, including a Silver and a Gold Abby, and a silver and bronzes at AAAI’s Goafest. He was also ranked by Campaign Brief Asia in the hottest creative list in 2004 and 2005.

Mak started his career in 1999 at IB&W as junior art director. He then joined Saatchi & Saatchi as art director in January 2001, spending three years at the agency. His next destination was Publicis Ambience, which he joined in January 2004. Everest happened in June 2005.

Mak’s reasoning for moving on from Everest is simple. He wants to work with an agency on foreign soil.

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