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Rajiv-Mahesh duo to head creative at O&M, Bangalore; Mac assumes 'national role'

The creative partners are scheduled to take charge on September 10, while senior CD Manmohan Anchan has been appointed ‘national creative resource’

Mahesh V and Rajiv Rao, creative directors at O&M, Mumbai, are set to take up the responsibility of heading the creative department at Ogilvy's Bangalore office. The long-standing creative partners - best known in recent times for their work on cellular service brand Hutch/Orange - are moving out of their dim-lit cubicle on the fourth floor of O&M's Lower Parel office on September 5, and are scheduled to assume charge in Bangalore on September 10 or thereabouts. In a related development, senior creative director Manmohan Anchan (or Mac, as he is better known), who was heading creative at O&M, Bangalore, has been given the newly constituted office of ‘national creative resource' at Ogilvy. Mac will continue to be based in Bangalore.

Piyush Pandey, group president & national creative director, O&M India, confirmed both developments to agencyfaqs! yesterday. "Mac's role is going to be that of a national resource for all our offices," says Pandey. "He will be helping out any and every Ogilvy office in India when it comes to cracking creative solutions, plus he will be working with me on special projects." Expanding on ‘special projects', Pandey explains that Mac would be instrumental in "infusing energy into offices that are in more sluggish markets, and taking O&M to a preeminent position in these markets". He adds that Mac would be "doing a whole lot of stuff, as his is a national role".

Speaking about the brief to Mahesh and Rao, Pandey said, "The brief to both of them is to do out of Bangalore what they have been doing out of Mumbai - produce outstanding work. They have the mandate to lead (O&M) Bangalore by example. This is a well-earned promotion for both of them, and a step towards superstardom. For Ogilvy, this is another move towards giving our talented youngsters an opportunity to take on bigger responsibilities."

It's a responsibility that both Mahesh and Rao are eagerly anticipating. "Handling the day-to-day responsibilities of a creative department is quite a challenge, and we are happy we have got a chance to do that," Mahesh says. "Bangalore is a nice office with a very nice bunch of people in creative. And it's a nice city too." Especially with so many pubs to choose from. "Yeah, if nothing works out, we can at least drink ourselves silly," he grins.

On a more serious note, the duo is looking at the opportunity of working on some very strong brands. "Allen Solly, IBM, Titan, Brooke Bond, SAP, South African Breweries… yes, it's going to be exciting," Mahesh avers. Interestingly, the partners (they came together at Heartbeat in 1994, moved to Ambience in 1996, and finally came to O&M in November 1999) will continue to work on the Hutch/Orange account - out of Bangalore. "We were keen on working on Hutch even after moving, and fortunately for us, neither the agency nor the client has a problem," Mahesh says happily. "We hope to continue doing good work on the brand."

For now, the two are busy clearing out their drawers in Mumbai, while looking forward to doing "some kick-ass work" out of Bangalore. "We'll try our best and that's a promise," they assure. © 2003 agencyfaqs!

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