Shovon Chowdhury of Bates quits; Atulit Saxena to head Delhi branch

In a significant development, Shovon Chowdhury, executive vice-president and general manager, Bates, Delhi, has put in his papers. Atulit Saxena, earlier vice-president, Bates, Delhi, would replace him, and has been elevated to the position of senior vice-president and general manager. Confirming this development to agencyfaqs!, Rajiv Agarwal, managing director & CEO, Bates India, said, "Shovon was a lovely asset. He is moving on to do his own thing. Atulit is now the captain of the agency branch. We really have a great team in place now and a great line-up of clients in Delhi."

As the head of the Delhi branch now, Saxena's mandate is create a strong brand in Bates. "We have some terrific clients and the objective very clearly is to do outstanding work and ensure that we give our clients' valuable strategic and creative inputs," says Agarwal. Adds Saxena, "My mandate is to enhance our clients' total experience with Bates and continue to bring the best out of Bates, Delhi."

Saxena's new role signals the culmination of a succession plan initiated a few months ago. "Shovon and I have been working together very closely to ensure a smooth transition," informed Saxena. Chowdhury, in the meanwhile, plans to set up his own agency. While he prefers to speak on his new venture "at a later date" he says, "This is Atulit's day and he is one of the finest advertising professionals in Delhi."

On his part, Saxena started his career in advertising with Mudra Communications, Delhi. He had joined the agency in 1988 and in July 2000 he quit as branch director. He then joined Bates, where he was reporting to Chowdhury as vice-president.

Meanwhile, Bates, Delhi, has ‘fortified' its team with fresh recruitments at senior levels. V Sunil, ex-O&M hand, who had recently launched his creative hotshop ‘A', will offer his services to Bates as the creative leader on Nokia, one of Bates' most prominent accounts. The agency has also taken on Ramesh Tahiliani to work on the Nokia business. Tahiliani, who was with McCann-Erickson earlier, is associate vice-president on the account. Anuradha Pradhan has joined Bates, Delhi, as brand services director. © 2003 agencyfaqs!