Rediffusion-Y&R appoints Sam Ahmed as Vice-Chairman & Chief Creative Officer

This is perhaps India's biggest creative hire from overseas. Ahmed spent 14 years at Y&R, Dubai, where he was credited with making Y&R the No. 1 agency in Dubai in creative rankings

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | January 7, 2013

Sam Ahmed

Rediffusion-Y&R has announced the appointment of Sam Ahmed, one of the biggest creative names from the international circuit, as Vice-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, to be based in Mumbai.

Ahmed spent 14 years at Y&R, Dubai, where he was credited with making Y&R the No. 1 agency in Dubai in creative rankings. He is credited as the person who put Dubai on the international advertising map.

Y&R, Dubai is today ranked the 3rd most creative agency in the world and Sam's key people are ranked as the top two creatives in the world. In 2009, he founded the Creative Club of Dubai. Today, about a dozen or so advertising agencies in the region are run by people who worked under him and he considers himself fortunate to have had the chance to collaborate with such brilliant minds.

Ahmed joined the advertising and communications industry at the age of 21. He was 24 when he won his first design award and over the years he won another 200 or so international awards, which have included Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio, New York Festival, and Epica.

By the time he was 28, Ahmed became Creative Director of Y&R, Dubai. During this time, he was judging award shows and shooting stills and commercials all over the world. He created some memorable brands and was featured in trade magazines regularly, with Dubai TV doing shows on his achievements in advertising.

By age 31, he was made Partner & Regional Executive Creative Director of Y&R Brands for the region.

Ahmed has worked on brands like Ford, Nestle, Pepsi, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive, Citibank, Harvey Nichols, Skoda, Land Rover, Jaguar, Sony Ericsson, Du Telecom, Zain Telecom, HTC, Apple, World Gold Council, among others.

He has been a consultant for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed's Executive Office on several Dubai projects including DIFC and Burj Khalifa.

Diwan Arun Nanda

Diwan Arun Nanda, Chairman and Managing Director, Rediffusion, said, “It is good to have a person of Sam's credentials lead the creative team at Rediffusion. He is one of the world's most awarded creative people. We searched the globe for such a creative talent. Sam is empowered to lead our team to achieve great creative heights with work that helps strengthen our clients' brands even further.”

Said Ahmed about his new role, “One of the reasons I left advertising is that the focus had shifted: it had become more about making money and less about ideas. I have always believed that only great ideas make a lot of money for your clients and your agency and when the Chairman of a legendary agency offers you the challenge to make Rediffusion the Number 1 creative agency in India, you don't ask too many questions, except where do I sign? I have some of the most amazing brands at Rediffusion to work with and I am really excited.”

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