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JWT restructures its creative team
After roping in Bobby Pawar, JWT India has promoted three of its executive creative directors -- Tista Sen, Senthil Kumar and Swati Bhattacharya -- as national creative directors.
For a very long time, JWT did not have any national creative director, especially after Agnello Dias quit the organisation. JWT's Delhi office had Adrian Miller as chief creative officer; Miller quit the organisation in May.
With the new appointments, JWT will have a robust creative structure. In Mumbai, along with Sen, the creative team will consist of Nandita Chalam, Debojyoti Purkayastha and Tina Sachdev. In the South, Priya Shivakumar and Shanmugam will report to Kumar. In Delhi, Bhattacharya's creative team will include Jaideep Mahajan, Priti Kapur and Surjo Dutt.
The NCDs, in addition to their current mandate and responsibilities towards local clients and offices, will play a larger role for JWT India.
Confirming the news, Colvyn Harris, chief executive officer, JWT India, says that the appointments were on the cards as part of JWT's seamless talent strategy.
Harris mentions that the 300-strong creative team at JWT needed a strong leadership structure. "The restructure aims to manage our entire creative talent seamlessly."
As chief operating officer, Pawar will lead the entire team and will be based in Mumbai. He says, "My job at JWT will be to ensure that we change our benchmarks and set new standards. Setting a vision and then delivering on it will be critical. JWT will be the magnet for the best talent in the industry and will offer the most creative solutions ever seen."
Clearly, JWT has a brand new structure for the forthcoming year, with most of the hiring done this year. In July, it roped in Sachdev as vice-president and senior creative director, JWT Mumbai; Mohan Sanda was appointed as senior creative director in August. Also, Sanjeev Bhargava joined JWT Delhi as managing partner, replacing Rohit Ohri.
In August, Nutan Sooda joined JWT Delhi as executive business director, client servicing.
Max Hegerman, who moved in from Tribal DDB, was appointed as head for the digital function. Hegerman is also based in Delhi.
JWT hired Ashwini Dhingra as vice-president, Kolkata. Jennifer Rieglar has been appointed as vice-president, strategic planning, JWT Mumbai.
Besides this, with the acquisition of Mindset in Hyderabad, JWT added Santha John, Ram Gedela and Anwar Ali Khan to its team.