Malvika Mehra is leaving Dentsu India

Malvika Mehra is leaving Dentsu India, an integrated full-service communication agency under Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India. She had joined the agency in 2019 as chief creative officer.

In a career that spans over two decades, Mehra, before Dentsu India, had stints at Grey (5 years) and Ogilvy (15+years) and also founded Tomorrow Creative Lab and was its creative head for two years.

Mehra says, "I’d like to thank DAN and Simi for the opportunity and whilst it’s been undoubtedly an exciting one year here, I have decided to move on.

I believe that the best work comes from agencies with a firm bedrock of a thriving creative culture. In the past year here, that’s been my focus and whilst cultures are not built overnight, despite my short stint here, I’d like to believe that we did cover some distance there. Whether it’s been attracting good talent, winning pitches across our 4 offices - Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi or just better work on the table.

I am happy that I’m leaving behind a strong second line in creative with Krishna Mani, leading our South operations, thrilled that we’ve recently won some robust businesses despite the lockdown and that our work is looking admittedly better across brands - Flying Machine (F-Lite, The Split), Ashiana Housing (Eve-Teasing), Pigeon Cookware, TVS Motors, Toyota, ITC Fabelle (Skater seal).

Finally, we are in a people’s business and what’s been most gratifying for me here is the strong client relationships I’ve managed to build with some of these clients and some of the folks at Dentsu India in a short time. If the farewell notes that I got from some of the kids across account management, HR, film and creative are any indication, I’d like to believe, I’ve probably done something right. Am leaving a happy mamma!

The world as we know it has changed drastically in the last few months. And with that, so has the brand landscape, be it the business itself or the communication needs around it. As creative folk, I think there can’t be a better time than now to embrace this change and perhaps relook at our roles in helping clients bring alive these brand engagements with a fresher, more relevant lens.

With that in mind, I’m exploring some opportunities both, in and outside of advertising, across digital and OTT platforms, design, content and maybe even sitting across the table with the client herself. Who knows! A lot of conversations are admittedly on. You know there’s that famous Chinese saying, ‘May you live in interesting times’? Well, here they are. And am excited about what unfolds for me. And yes, am taking Tomorrow Creative Lab along with me. Shall keep you posted."

Please recall that Mehra launched Tomorrow Creative Lab in 2016 and ran it until 2019 when she joined Dentsu India and Tomorrow Creative Lab became a part of the Dentsu network.

Simi Sabhaney, CEO, Dentsu India told us: Malvika has decided to move on because she wanted to explore newer avenues, like content, digital and OTT platforms and we wish her the very best for her future endeavours. We'll soon announce the senior creative leadership with a bigger mandate and regarding Tomorrow Creative Lab, it was her baby and will move back with her. There is no implication of this movement on any of our clients.

Through her career, Mehra has worked on some of the biggest brands such as Vodafone, Honda, and Gillette to name a few and during her entrepreneurial journey with Tomorrow Creative Lab, her clientele included the likes of HUL, Oyo Rooms, and NDTV among others.

She has also served as a jury member at international advertising and design festivals like Cannes, Clio and Spikes Asia across categories like film, print and design.

And yes, she is a two-time Cannes Gold Lion and D&AD pencil winner.