Santosh Padhi taps his roots once again 'Into Creative'

New Delhi: Santosh Padhi, popularly known as Paddy, has launched his own agency, Into Creative. 

He will take on the role of CCO and Chairman, while Ayesha Ghosh, his former colleague from Taproot Dentsu and Wieden+Kennedy, will serve as CEO and Co-founder.

While Padhi holds the majority stake in the company, he has also brought on board four of his past colleagues as co-founders.

Joining as co-founders are:

• Yogesh Rijhwani, who will lead the creative
• Tania Dey, who will head strategy and digital
• Namrata Gosavi, who will oversee design and digital
• Gargi Vegiraju, who will be the business lead

The founding team has worked on major brands such as Jio 5G, Hero Vida EV, Hero Cycles, Jindal Steel, Jockey, and Zoya, among others.

The six co-founders last worked together at Wieden+Kennedy India, which shut down its advertising services in India in December 2024. Additionally, Rijhwani, Vegiraju, Padhi, and Ghosh have previously collaborated at Taproot.

Padhi is no stranger to founding an agency—he co-founded Taproot in 2009, which was later acquired by Dentsu Group.

The vision behind Into Creative

In a statement, the agency shared that its mission is to create big, bold, and fearless creative work, regardless of the medium or platform.

Into Creative aims to help brands discover “that Big Directional Idea”—not just a tagline for communication, but a powerful concept that deeply influences the brand's universe.

Explaining the thought behind the agency’s name, the agency statement read:
“INTO Brands, INTO Insights, INTO Ideas, INTO Design, INTO Tech, INTO Digital, INTO Content, INTO Collabs.”

Both Paddy and Ghosh will be actively involved in all aspects of the agency’s work. The agency is also open to adding new specialists in the future, with equity stakes assigned accordingly.

Into Creative will officially launch in Mumbai on March 30, 2025, coinciding with the Gudi Padwa/Ugadi festival, which marks new beginnings in many parts of India. It is also believed to be the day when Lord Brahma created the universe.

The agency is currently in talks with several clients, with official announcements expected soon.

Padhi shared his motivation for launching Into Creative, stating, "I could have easily retired on an island, but the call from adland is loud and clear. This industry has given me everything, and now it’s time to give back. Our focus will be on brave, fearless, and creative brand work. While Indian brands and platforms have grown, creativity hasn’t kept pace. Ironically, brands are built on creativity. The passion of creative agencies to push boundaries seems to have faded. In a world where anything is creatively possible, we are here to fill that void."

Ghosh added, "More experiments happen when independent. Experiments may fail, but every now and then, they lead to a glorious, unexpected, and triumphant discovery. That’s what we’re here for. We see ourselves as multipliers—when collaboration happens with high creative integrity and respect for every platform, true magnification of ideas occurs."