Dupindera Sandhu, branch head, Starcom MediaVest, Delhi, resigns

Dupindera Sandhu, branch head, Starcom MediaVest, Delhi, has put in his papers. When contacted, Sandhu confirmed the development. "Today (August 28) is my last day here," he said. However, Sandhu is tight-lipped about his plans. "Currently, I am evaluating two or three options."

Sandhu started his career in market research. After a five-year stint with TNS (then TNS Mode), Sandhu joined Starcom's Mumbai office as senior media manager in July 2000. In January 2002, Sandhu was transferred to Starcom MediaVest, Delhi, as branch head. "My brief was to establish Starcom in Delhi. When I came to Delhi, Starcom hardly had any accounts. In one-and-a half-years, the Delhi branch grew from Rs 5 crore to Rs 100 crore. Today, Starcom counts Dr Morepen, South African Breweries, Honda Siel, Sony Electronics, United Colors of Benetton, jewellery group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy among its clients."

Sandhu's resignation comes within months of Manas Misra's (media director, Starcom Mumbai) decision to leave the agency. Misra is now with Initiative Media as associate vice-president (Mumbai).

So what happens to the slot vacated by Sandhu? Anita Nayyar, executive director, Starcom, North, was not available for comment. One can safely assume Starcom will have to find a replacement - from within or without - or scrap the position altogether. Informal conversations with agency insiders seem to indicate that the changes of the latter happening are bleak. That is because the accounts handled by Starcom's Delhi branch were split into two groups - Group 1 and Group 2 - with both groups reporting to Sandhu, who, in turn reported to Nayyar. With Sandhu gone, a key member of the team would be missing.

So, hopefully, we will see some new faces at Starcom, Delhi, soon. © 2003 agencyfaqs!