Devina Joshi
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Publicis appoints Khazanchi, Sankhe as NCDs

Ashish Khazanchi recently quit Rediffusion DY&R as its executive creative director. Prasanna Sankhe has been promoted within the organisation; he was earlier an ECD

Publicis Ambience has brought on board not one, but two people to fill the post vacated by Ramanuj Shastry recently – that of national creative director.

Publicis appoints Khazanchi, Sankhe as NCDs
Aniruddha Banerjee
The agency will now have two NCDs – Ashish Khazanchi and Prasanna Sankhe – jointly handling its creative reins. Ashish Khazanchi had recently quit Rediffusion DY&R as its executive creative director. On the other hand, Prasanna Sankhe is Ambience’s home-grown product; he has been promoted to NCD after serving as the agency’s executive creative director.

Confirming this development to agencyfaqs!, Aniruddha Banerjee, president and COO, Publicis Ambience, says, “We’re a very young agency and were on the lookout for younger people, as opposed to the ‘been there, done that’ type. The energy and passion young folk bring to the table is unmatched.”

Publicis appoints Khazanchi, Sankhe as NCDs
Prasanna Sankhe
Sankhe has climbed up the ranks while at Ambience. He joined as senior creative director after a stint with Alok Nanda and Co. A little while later, he was made ECD. Predominantly an art guy, Sankhe is a graduate from the JJ School of Arts, Mumbai. Currently, he is in his second stint with Ambience; he also worked with the agency from 2000-03.

At Ambience, Sankhe has worked on campaigns for pest control brand Hit and Nerolac Paints, among others.

Khazanchi was with Rediffusion for three years. While there, he was instrumental in launching brands such as Tata Sky and ‘Daily News & Analysis’ (‘DNA’), apart from working on Indian Oil and Sugar Free. His Tata Sky campaigns, based on the thought, ‘Isko Laga Daala Toh Life Jhingalala’, enjoyed high media visibility. He was also behind the Hrithik Roshan commercials for Tata Sky.

Publicis appoints Khazanchi, Sankhe as NCDs
Ashish Khazanchi
Prior to Rediff, Khazanchi has done stints with O&M, McCann-Erickson and Publicis India, and he brings with him work experience of 14 years. When at O&M (for about four years), Khazanchi worked on Seagram’s, Kelvinator and the Pulse Polio campaigns. At McCann-Erickson, he worked for a year on Nescafe and Gillette. He was at Publicis India for about two years and handled Tata Agni and Maggi.

Banerjee hopes that the duo will lead team work in the agency and break down the barriers of a one-man structure.

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