Rajiv Agarwal quits Enterprise Nexus

agencyfaqs! News Bureau

MUMBAI

In a surprise move, Rajiv Agarwal, managing director of Rs 158-crore advertising agency Enterprise Nexus Communications, has put in his papers. Information available with agencyfaqs! seems to indicate the news of Agarwal's departure first broke at the agency's Mumbai office last evening. It appears none of the other branches have any information on this development yet.

When contacted by agencyfaqs!, Agarwal said he was undecided on his next move. "Finding a job has never been a problem with me," chuckled Agarwal.

Despite being one of the most respected names in the ad fraternity, Agarwal is an enigma to many. And though not as 'visible' as his partner and friend Mohammed Khan, Agarwal, as managing director of Enterprise Nexus, has helped make the agency one of the most formidable in the circuit. In fact, he is a founder member of Enterprise Nexus, which was formed when he merged his agency Nexus Communications with Khan's Enterprise in 1997. With a career spanning over two decades in the industry, Agarwal, an alumni of St Stephens College, New Delhi, had launched Nexus Communications along with co-founder A Nair after quitting Enterprise in 1994. As things stand now, the London-based Lowe group holds 40 per cent stake in Enterprise Nexus, India's Agency No 14 (according to the XI A&M Agency Report).

The agency handles major ad accounts like Raymond, Bennett, Coleman & Company (The Times of India, The Economic Times and Femina), Daewoo (Matiz and Nexia), IFB, Ravissant, SmithKline Beecham (Iodex), VST (Charms) and Sun Microsystems.

Currently, the agency has three divisions including Enterprise Public Relations, Enterprise Nexus Direct (direct marketing division) and Enterprise Nexus Exhibitions. Its second agency Gaia, launched in the early nineties, had turned out to be a non-starter.

Speaking on Agarwal's resignation, a senior executive at the agency said the news of Agarwal's departure came as a shock to everyone in Mumbai. And with Khan away on a tour, there was no clarity on how things would shape up over the next few days. Agarwal, however, was quick to point out, "I don't see any big succession issues right away. In any case, I wasn't involved with the day-to-day running of the agency for quite some time now."

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