How Happy got this far...

Bengaluru-born creative shop Happy Creative Services is now part of the Dentsu Aegis Network(DAN) . The agency has been renamed Happy mcgarrybowen, as it joins the global mcgarrybowen network of agencies, led by DAN.

Presently, the agency employs around 100 people across three disciplines, brand design, integrated brand communication and digital.

Happy was set up in 2007.

In 2012, a year after Happy Creative Services launched its Mumbai office, afaqs! asked the founders Kartik Iyer (co-founder and CEO) and Praveen Das (co-founder and MD), about the prospect of becoming part of a network. At the time, we reported: The agency is independent but that does not mean it always intends to stay one. Iyer confesses how there haven't been any formal talks of any deal with any network, but that they might be open to one at a later stage, if not immediately. "As of today, we are a debt free, organically invested agency," he adds.

The team has come a long way since. Happy now has a parent in Dentsu Aegis Network. On the occasion, we take a quick look at the agency’s journey, curated by revisiting our own coverage of this agency over the recent past.

Last year, Happy made headlines by deploying Ola Boats in Chennai, much to the relief of the city’s flood-stricken commuters. The agency, on its website, writes about the campaign: 'Ola Boat - a temporary free service made up of 14 hired boats manned by firemen from the fire and rescue department of Tamil Nadu along with local fishermen. The boats and the service were the idea, the media and the message.’

In 2012, Happy came to be known as 'The Flipkart Agency' , after its ads for the e-commerce brand became popular, especially among the youth. Happy won the Flipkart business in 2010; one of the agency’s first TV ads for the brand is a film titled 'Granny and Mouse' . The team has since created memorable work for Flipkart, including a prized asset - the Indian 'kidult', or the funny, 'bonsai grown-up’, who recently re-appeared on our TV screens to promote Flipkart’s 'Big Billion Days' sale.

2012 was the year Happy participated in the Effies for the first time and won a gold for its Flipkart campaign, grabbed a silver award at AdFest, appointed a COO (Siddhartha Roy), and launched a Design Cell.

In 2014, when Flipkart brought Lowe Lintas Bengaluru on board , incumbent firm Happy stayed on board. Flipkart had said at the time, "Happy Creative Services will continue to work with us and creative duties will be shared between both agencies."

Happy won big at afaqs!’s very own Foxglove Awards (second edition, Mumbai), earlier this year.

Besides Flipkart and Ola, some of the names that appeared on the agency’s client list, over the years, include Amante, Maiyas, Myntra (part of Flipkart), Lee, MobiKwik, GoDaddy, HolidayIQ and Radio One, among several others.