Restructuring at Ogilvy

While, Prasanth Mohanachandran and Kaizad Pardiwala called it quits at OgilvyOne, in an unrelated development, Ogilvy India has relocated Sharmista Dev, senior vice-president and head of office of Ogilvy Kolkata to the Delhi office. Moreover, Malini Sengupta, head of account management, Ogilvy Kolkata has been promoted as general manager and head of the Kolkata office

Two senior level executives from OgilvyOne Worldwide (India) - Prasanth Mohanachandran, executive director, digital services, OgilvyOne and Neo@Ogilvy and Kaizad Pardiwala, president, OgilvyOne - have put in their papers.

OgilvyOne is the direct and digital marketing arm of the Ogilvy network, while Neo@Ogilvy is the digital media planning and buying arm of OgilvyOne.

Mohanachandran has about 17 years of experience, of which he has spent about a decade with the Ogilvy group. Prior to that, he managed his own digital agency, eDeltaC Communications, which was eventually acquired by the Ogilvy group in 2000. It was later rechristened to Ogilvy Interactive and then Neo@Ogilvy.

Pardiwala has 15 years of experience in the advertising space. Of that, he has spent about 13 years in the Ogilvy network. He was with OgilvyOne for about six years (2004-2010). Prior to that, he worked with Ogilvy Advertising.

Speaking to afaqs!, both Mohanachandran and Pardiwala confirm the development. Mohanachandran indicates that his next destination would be in the digital media space, but outside the Ogilvy network. Pardiwala clarifies that although he has left OgilvyOne, he would stay within the Ogilvy group. However, he did not provide any more details on this.

In an unrelated development, Ogilvy India has relocated Sharmista Dev, senior vice-president and head of office of Ogilvy Kolkata to the Delhi office. Dev has been appointed the 360 brand team leader of the Vodafone (North) business.

Dev will be replaced by Malini Sengupta, who will be promoted as general manager and head of the Kolkata office. She was head of account management, Ogilvy Kolkata until recently. Sengupta will report to Sanjay Thapar, president, Ogilvy North and East.

In her five-year stint at Ogilvy Kolkata, Dev has worked on brands such as Lafarge, Tea Board, and ITC. Under her leadership, Ogilvy Kolkata has won the Advertising Club, Calcutta's 'Agency of the Year' award three years in a row.

Dev also won a Cannes Lion last year. Ogilvy Kolkata won the bronze for its work for the Calcutta School of Music. Incidentally, it was the first agency from Kolkata to win a metal at Cannes.

Besides Ogilvy Kolkata, Dev has also worked with Ogilvy Bengaluru and Ogilvy Mumbai.

Sengupta began her career with Ogilvy Mumbai in 1995. She has worked on accounts such as Hindustan Unilever, Kimberly Clark and Cadbury's.

On the appointments, Thapar says, "Both changes are strategic ones. Dev's movement to Delhi is symbolic of our commitment to the eight circles of Vodafone handled out of Delhi. Malini's promotion ensures continuity in Kolkata and a fresh impetus, which will come under her leadership and strategic thinking".

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