JWT appoints Himanshu Saxena as president of its Colombo operations

Michael Maedel, president and chief executive officer, JWT Asia-Pacific, officially announced the appointment of Himanshu Saxena as president, JWT Colombo. He also announced the promotion of Thayalan Bartlett, current chief executive officer, JWT Colombo, to the role of chief operating officer, JWT Jakarta. Bartlett has been at the helm of affairs at JWT Colombo since June 2006.

Bartlett will be filling in a new position created by Lulut Asmoro, president, JWT Jakarta. This assignment makes Bartlett the agency's first Sri Lankan chief executive officer to be named chief operating officer of a JWT office, internationally.

At JWT Jakarta, Bartlett will work closely with Asmoro. "Bartlett's appointment strengthens our management team at an opportune time for Indonesia. With his knowledge of JWT, and his passion for the business, I couldn't think of a better person to partner with me in optimising the agency's growth strategy as we move forward," says Asmoro.

"Bartlett has done an exceptional job in taking the Colombo office to the strong position it enjoys today. As for Saxena, we are more than confident that with his breadth and depth of experience with top agencies and clients, along with his keen business sense, the office will continue to prosper and grow. We look forward to ushering in a new era at JWT Colombo under his lead," says Colvyn Harris, chief executive officer, JWT India, about both developments.

"We are very excited to give Bartlett this opportunity in the Jakarta office. Bartlett is most suitable for this role, and will marry his skills and experience with that of our colleagues in Jakarta to capitalise on the growth potential Indonesia holds as an N-11 nation." says Maedel in an official communiqué. He adds that this move is a demonstration of JWT's philosophy of presenting international opportunities to its top talent.

With a multi-disciplinary business background, Saxena brings with him 18 years of experience across the fields of advertising, branding, consumer research and sales. In his career so far, he has held positions at Indian advertising agencies, including McCann Worldgroup T.A.G., Lowe Lintas, McCann Erickson and Trikaya Grey. He has, during the length of his career, worked on brands such as Unilever, Marico, AT&T, HSBC, Idea Cellular, Mauritius Tourism, and Barclays, amongst others.

Amongst the awards Saxena has won so far are the Grand India Effie for Saffola, which also went on to win an APAC Bronze Effie, and the Yahoo! Big Idea Chair Award for Parachute Advansed, in the category of Best-Integrated Campaign using Digital Media.