Happy mcgarrybowen appoints Samarjit Choudhry as COO - Advertising

Happy mcgarrybowen, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has announced key structural changes to further strategise its business approach and strengthen its top-line leadership. 

As part of this change, PM Praveen Das, Co-founder and MD, Happy mcgarrybowen, will spearhead growth of the specialised units for Design, B2B and Social Behaviour Change Projects (SBCP). 

Samarjit Choudhry has been appointed as chief operating officer (COO), Advertising. Armed with more than 20 years of experience, Choudhry’s mandate will be to run and grow the agency’s advertising business across the country. Prior to this, Choudhry was with Ogilvy Bangalore where he held the position of chief growth office. He was also instrumental in setting up Orchard in Bangalore and Black Pencil for the Leo Burnett Group. In his new role, he will report to Kartik Iyer, co-founder and CEO – Happy mcgarrybowen.  

Praveen Das

On the new path ahead, PM Praveen Das said, “The dream here is to use ‘design thinking’ to contribute something unique to design from India and create value for our clients. We also want to help B2B clients with solutions that fall between a digital and communication agency by leveraging technology and creating unique experiences with UI and UX, VR, AR, AI, Machine Learning, IOT (internet of things), etc. In SBCP too, we have been trying to use technology to solve communication challenges even as we patiently engage with continuous research and feedback to create and recreate communication for change. Yes, the process is slow but fulfilling and effective if done well. To accomplish this, we have put together a talented, top-of-line team of experts to deliver results.” 

Commenting on his new role, Choudhry said, "Most agencies give lip service to integrated thinking. At Happy, it's actually a way of life. This brings a unique perspective to the table and a very different understanding of the shopper of today. Also Kartik and Praveen are not just great people to work with, they are truly Happy people also. I quite look forward to our journey ahead of taking Happy mcgarrybowen to the Delhi and Mumbai markets.”   

Kartik Iyer

Iyer, who will continue to oversee the advertising discipline for Happy mcgarrybowen, said, “We have always wanted Happy mcgarrybowen to be a hybrid agency with multiple capabilities. Between Praveen and me, we are very clear what we want for Happy mcgarrybowen in the future. So it just makes absolute sense to split forces and give the attention each discipline needs.” 

“Samarjit comes with a rich experience of having built business units. His personality, in a lot of ways, echoes the values we believe in at Happy. We have entrusted him with the responsibility to running and growing the advertising business across the country. So we can concentrate on attracting the best talent and improving the creative product,” he added.

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