Kaustav Das joins Publicis Ambience as executive vice-president, South

Kaustav Das has joined Publicis Ambience as executive vice-president, South. He will focus on setting up the agency’s Bangalore office.

Prior to this, Das was new business director, Leo Burnett India. He quit the job in April, as reported by afaqs! Back then, he cited differences with Arvind Sharma, chairman and chief executive officer, Leo Burnett India, as the reason for his exit.

Das began his stint at Leo Burnett as managing director of the network’s second agency, Orchard Advertising, in October 2007. In 2008, he took charge as new business director, Leo Burnett South Asia, and the post of managing director was scrapped at Orchard. At the same time, Thomas Xavier, national creative director, Orchard, took over as chairman in addition to his regular duties. This was the first time that the post of chairman came into play at Orchard.

In an official communiqué, Aniruddha Banerjee, president and chief operating officer, Publicis Ambience, says, “Kaustav has just the right credentials, passion and energy that Publicis Ambience needs right now. Our Chennai venture has already become very successful and now with Kaustav here, Bangalore is also set to be a great success.”

Das started his career in advertising in 1992 with Sobhagya Kolkata, followed by a stint at Sistas Kolkata (now Saatchi and Saatchi). He also worked with O&M Bangalore and Lowe (then Lintas India). At Lowe, he headed the Hindustan Lever foods portfolio (brands such as Dalda, Kissan and Flora).

He was seconded to Hindustan Lever as brand manager on the oil business (Dalda and Flora). Soon after, he was appointed head of account planning for Lowe’s Bangalore office.

Das has also done stints at Mudra Chennai (a year), RK Swamy/ BBDO, Euro RSCG Chennai (as vice-president, Chennai) and TBWA/ India (as vice-president, South).