Ajai Jhala quits BBDO India as CEO

Ajai Jhala has put in his papers as CEO of BBDO India after spending 10 years with the agency since it set up shop in India.

Along with Josy Paul, Chairman and CCO, Jhala has been the architect of BBDO India’s significant contribution and influence on advertising, across India and globally.

Powered by the belief in creating ‘acts not ads’, BBDO India has created transformational ideas on big brands based on important and highly relevant social themes.

A few examples, include Ariel #ShareTheLoad ranked the No 1 most effective campaign in the world by WARC for 2017 and 2018, “Touch the Pickle” for Whisper, “Women against Lazy Stubble” for Gillette, “Release the Pressure” for Mirinda, “Stand by Tough Mom’s” for All Out and “Kindness is Cashless” for Visa. To name a few.

Over the last 10 years, the agency has grown and attracted an unfair share of talent and is now being led by a highly successful leadership team in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

Jhala will continue to be involved in the daily running of the agency including your business for the next three months. Paul remains in the role of Chief Creative Officer and Country Chairman and additions to the management line up will be announced in the coming months.

Confirming the development exclusively with BestMediaInfo.com, Jhala said, “Josy called me in the UK ten years ago to be his equal partner and script the story of BBDO India. We both imagined a brilliant future. By creating acts not ads we changed the narrative of Indian advertising from the idea of authority to the authority of ideas. Looking back I think our biggest achievement has been to create big ideas for big brands on big social themes that are simmering under the skin of India’s social fabric. But there is much we can't script.”

“Eventually it was a brilliant core team ( you all know who you are) and a few hero clients that really took us to heights we never ever imagined we would scale. I have known Josy since our days at St Xavier’s College. And true to our Alma Mater’s motto "Provocans Ad Volandum” we encouraged each other to fly. I am deeply indebted for his partnership and giving me the opportunity to fly alongside him,” added Jhala.

Prior to joining the agency formally in 2008, Jhala was Global Communication Director on the Unilever account at Lowe London.

Jean-Paul Burge, Chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia, commented, “Ajai’s contribution to our India operation has been immeasurable, he leaves behind a thriving operation that is growing and delivering outstanding work. I cannot have wished for a better partner and wish him all the best for the future. Succession, retention and talent planning is one of our strengths and we have the people to continue our upward trajectory in this critical market, all and always focused on delivering the best work that works.”

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