Thomas Xavier appointed chairman and NCD at Orchard

Xavier will now head Orchard India as a whole. Kaustav Das, who had replaced Nitish Mukherjee, has been given another assignment at Leo Burnett

Thomas Xavier, national creative director, Orchard Advertising (Leo Burnett’s sister concern), will now function as the agency’s chairman in addition to his role as NCD. This news was confirmed to agencyfaqs! by Xavier himself. The post of chairman is a first for Orchard.

Thomas Xavier

In addition to this development, Kaustav Das, managing director, Orchard, has been given another assignment within the Leo Burnett Group. With this, the post of MD stands scrapped at Orchard, and Xavier will undertake all the responsibilities of the post. One may recall that in October 2007, Orchard’s then MD, Nitish Mukherjee, had been assigned a bigger role at Leo Burnett, as its MD. At that point, Das had taken over from Mukherjee.

Nitish Mukherjee

With this restructuring, Xavier will head Orchard’s Bangalore and Mumbai offices.

Xavier has 16 years’ experience in the advertising industry. A mechanical engineer by training, he marched into the profession after four years in sales with Voltas Ltd. From Mudra Communications to McCann-Erickson to Leo Burnett, Xavier did the usual nine-to-nine agency routine, with a Clio nomination in Film to show for his efforts.

Then, when Burnett launched its second agency, Orchard Advertising, in Bangalore, he was appointed its executive creative director. Then onwards, Xavier went on to do visible work for brands such as Toyota Qualis, Top Ramen, the Effie-winning regional work on Coca-Cola, the ‘Gale Mein Awaaz’ campaign for Himalaya Throat Drops, and the more recent Air Deccan commercials.

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