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Nikhil Nehru is chairman, Results International Group, India
Nehru has spent more than two decades with JWT and also done a stint with McCann
Ad veteran Nikhil Nehru has spread his wings some more in the consultancy space. Besides his private setup in the field of marketing and communications with Ontrack Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd, he has gone a step ahead and taken over as chairman of the Indian operations of Results International Group (RIG). RIG is a specialist consulting and corporate finance firm, which functions exclusively in the global marketing communications industry.
Nehru has been in the advertising business for 39 years now. He began his career in 1968 in account management with McCann (then Clarion McCann). In 1969, he relocated to London to join the then British ad agency, Masius Wynne Williams, which is now TAPE (Television Audience Programme Evaluation), an independently owned consultancy company that has been providing specialist services for media professionals in the television and film industries since 1976.
In 1992, he went to Dubai to join PubliGraphics, a full service agency, as a director on the board. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the UAE, Bahrain and Muscat operations as well as the agency’s below-the-line activities.
After spending almost three and a half years in Dubai, he returned to India in October 1995 to take over as deputy operations officer at McCann. In 1996, he was elevated to chief operating officer. In 1998, he was designated president of McCann Erickson World Group India. His stint with the agency came to an end in 2002.
After moving out of McCann, he set up INCommunications, where he worked for two years. This was followed by Ontrack, which provides consultancy services in marketing and communication to clients and agencies.
WelcomGroup Hotels, Pepsi, Hero Group, Bacardi, General Motors, Microsoft, SmithKline Beecham, ITC Foods, Unilever India, Perfetti, Nestlé, Virgin Atlantic, Maruti Suzuki, L'Oreal and Coca-Cola are some of the brands for which Nehru has handled launches, product diversification, corporate brand building and marketing and communication programmes.
Currently, apart from running Ontrack and being the chairman of Results International India, Nehru is an independent consultant on the board of Aviva Life Insurance. He is also on the governing council for Plan India, an NGO.
Speaking about joining RIG, Nehru says, “I believe that with my wide experience in the marketing and communications industry in India, I shall, along with Sunil Gupta, give further impetus to the momentum RIG has already gained in the three months it has been in operation in India.”
RIG announced its formal entrance into India with Sunil Gupta's appointment as managing partner. Gupta will gradually assume responsibility for the South Asian markets. He also continues to perform his role of regional director, Southwest Asia, Aprais Worldwide.
Results International is present in 40 countries in Eastern, Central and Western Europe, North and Latin America, MENA and the Asia Pacific. It began operations in 1991 and has various acquisitions and mergers to its credit. Some of these are London-based branding and consulting company, Clear, acquired by M&C Saatchi; a majority share acquisition of Brazilian LewLara by TBWA; Publicis' acquisition of Chinese digital agencies CCG and Emporio Asia; and iCrossing's acquisition of German online agency 3G.