Syeda Imam to join JWT as executive creative director

Syeda Imam has at least two good reasons to feel happy about. She has been appointed the executive creative director of JWT, India. And the regional creative director of JWT, central Asia. In her new role as the regional creative director, JWT, she will be responsible for the creative function for all JWT agencies in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Prior to the appointment, Imam, was executive creative director at Contract Advertising.

As part of her new assignment at JWT, Imam's mandate will be "to provide leadership to talented creative professionals, raise the standard of work, particularly JWT's large global brands to world-class standards."

Imam brings to JWT her wealth of experience in major brands and product categories, creative reputation and leadership qualities. Among the many national and global brands she has worked on in India are Coke, Nestle, ITC/BAT, Glaxo, Reckitt Benckiser, as well as Whirlpool, NIIT, Shell, ABN-AMRO and Hindustan Lever.

While Imam firmly believes that "brands do the talking for themselves", she made an exception for agencyfaqs! by discussing JWT's expectations from her. "I firmly believe in creativity that puts the brand first. Which is precisely what my task is." She adds, "JWT has been an alma mater to me." After obtaining a first class in English she joined Ogilvy from where she moved on to JWT (earlier known as HTA), then to McCann-Erickson and finally to Contract Advertising. In fact, she was part of the team that established Contract Advertising in 1986.

Imam has won several international and Indian creative awards. She bagged the coveted Max Lewis International Award over and above the awards she won back home for Nestle, Complan, Kelvinator, Philips, Olivetti, Shell and countless high profile public service campaigns. The ‘Mera Bharat Mahan' concept and films were her work.

Among her recent works are the conceptualisation and the designing of two publications - ‘The Positive Side', an AIDs initiative for Modicare Foundation and ‘The Making of Advertising, Gleanings from Subhas Ghosal', which have been published by Roli Books and Macmillan respectively. © 2003 agencyfaqs!