Indiantelevision.com Team

(8 June 2011 10:50 am)

MUMBAI: Mudra West, an SBU of Mudra India, has appointed Amit Kekre as head, planning.

Kekre will oversee the planning function of some of the agency's biggest clients including Future Group, LIC, Godrej, Emirates, HCC, Lavasa, The Economic Times, Huawei, Femina and Philips-Electrolux.

Kekre has more than 13 years of planning experience under his belt. The last position he held was that of VP, strategic planning, McCann Erickson India.

Prior to that, Kekre was director planning at Grey Melbourne and area planning director at Grey Malaysia.

Mudra West president Arijit Ray says, “Amit embodies the perfect credentials required to give Mudra West the right impetus in the planning function. With Amit’s vast experience across categories as diverse as automotive, fashion, lifestyle, travel and tourism, financial services, FMCG, in various capacities, within india and outside, he is the right person to take the collaborative partnership across planning, creative and business management, to the next level.We are really looking forward to Amit playing a really active role in our quest to chart the next growth platform for Mudra West.”

Starting his advertising career with Ambience advertising in 1996, Kekre spent the first four years in account management working on the Marico account, thereafter moving to Lowe where he worked on the Unilever business before making the move to account planning in the year 2000.

Kekre has also worked in planning at JWT, Ogilvy and Everest in Mumbai and brings a wealth of experience over a wide range of markets and brands to the table.

Kekre adds, "The challenge for planners today is not just to find innovative and insightful ways of studying people and consumer culture but also to be able to project and transmit it in a way that it breaks the stereotype of planning being a silo style department and helps it mix and merge seamlessly in the creation of businesses and brands, especially to be seen as welcome partners in inspiring great creative work. I am excited to join Mudra and am hopeful that its collaborative, team driven culture will help planning be a force that comes from people, works with people but never comes in the way of people.”