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Ex-Contract Pankaj Mridul joins Collage, RK Swamy/BBDO's new specialised outfit
Mridul, who was head of Contract, Delhi, is moving to back to RK Swamy/BBDO, where he spent around six years in his earlier stint
Pankaj Mridul, who quit Contract, Delhi, in March this year, has joined RK Swamy/BBDO as the head of Collage, the agency’s new consulting division. Collage will specialise in branding, design and creative services.
Mridul, who was head of Contract, Delhi, is moving to back to RK Swamy/BBDO, where he spent around six years in his earlier stint.
Now appointed executive vice-president and creative director, Collage, Mridul says, “I have known everyone at RK Swamy/BBDO for such a long time and the whole concept of creating a specialised outfit sounded very interesting to me. There aren’t many agencies that pay enough attention to branding and designing and I do see a huge potential here.”
Mridul denies that Collage is a result of conflicting businesses. “Collage has definitely not been created because of any conflict of interests. It will concentrate purely on branding and design, as these two aspects are usually overshadowed by media and creatives. However, this does not mean that we will ignore creatives as both are interlinked. But, yes, our main key areas will be brand and design.”
Collage will be separate from RK Swamy/BBDO’s mainline services, which encompass mass media advertising and media services as well as speciality services in the areas of pharma, social and rural, human resources and customer relationship management.
Commenting on the initiative, Srinivasan Swamy, CEO, RK Swamy/BBDO, says, “Over the years, we have undertaken many special design and unconventional creative projects on behalf of our clients. We felt it was time to address this particular area. The market is getting more and more specialised, and clients have been seeking specialist services to derive a competitive advantage in the market. Our goal in creating Collage is to ensure that this area receives the focus it rightfully deserves through appropriate staffing and management attention.”
Collage has commenced operations from Gurgaon (a Delhi suburb) and will expand soon to Mumbai. “We have already started work on a couple of confidential projects, and we are looking forward to producing some outstanding work for them. Though we plan to expand throughout the country, right now, the focus is on identifying the right clients and building up a team to serve them,” says Mridul.
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