Bashab Sarkar of Maximize puts in his papers

"I have fulfilled my task and it is time for me to move on." These words pretty much sum up the reason why Bashab Sarkar, managing director, Maximize India, is leaving at a time when the media agency is doing quite well. Currently, Sarkar is serving his notice period and will be around for a couple of weeks more before he bids adieu to the agency which was set up in January 2002.

Two things are unclear at the moment. One, who is slated to take over in Sarkar's position (the evaluation process is underway), and two, where is Sarkar headed. "Right now things are undecided; I may start something on my own or I may do something different." To do something different was Sarkar's mandate at Maximize too. His objective was to create a stable brand out of Maximize and in less than two years the agency has recorded media placements worth Rs 400 crore. "My task was to create an identity for Maximize, to make it stand on its feet."

Sarkar launched his career with Clarion Advertising (now Bates India) in end 1982, and moved to Contract, before joining McCann-Erickson (India) as general manager, head of Kolkata and Nepal. He led the agency (McCann-Erickson, Kolkata) to win the Agency of the Year Award in 1994. In July 1997, he joined the media department of Ogilvy & Mather (India) and has been part of the team that set up WPP Media in India. © 2003 agencyfaqs!