MUMBAI: Wieden+Kennedy has appointed Gautham Narayanan as the new managing director for its Delhi office.
Narayanan will work alongside executive creative directors Molona Wati Longchar and Shuchi Thakur.
The position was previously held by Siddarth Loyal, who left the agency earlier this month.
Narayanan, who is currently based in South Africa, will relocate to Delhi and take his post in September. The transition is being managed by W+K alum Patrick Cahill, who spent nearly seven years with the agency in New York and Delhi, where he held the managing director role from 2015-17 before starting his own creative consultancy CAHILL&PARTNERS.
Narayanan has spent the majority of his career at BBDO, most recently as regional director for BBDO Africa and managing director, BBDO South Africa, where he helped land several new business wins, including Google Africa, and focused on talent development across the agency’s four African offices.
Narayanan is credited with spearheading the recent business turnaround at BBDO South Africa by driving revenue growth and doubling profits in just three years.
On his appointment, Narayanan says, “I have always admired the simplicity and smarts of Wieden+Kennedy's work, from afar. For me, W+K’s ability to infiltrate popular culture has been the key to their success. It's a simple formula that drives fame for the brands they serve, which in turn, drives commercial success for their clients' business.”
“I consider myself lucky to have worked for BBDO my whole career, and I can honestly say Wieden+Kennedy was the only agency network I considered leaving BBDO for. W+K’s independent culture and belief in compelling ideas, paired the opportunity to partner with extraordinary clients and lead an office in my country of birth, was too tempting to resist,” he adds.
W+K chief operating officer Neil Christie mentions, “We're delighted that Gautham will bring his experience, energy and enthusiasm for groundbreaking work to Wieden+Kennedy Delhi. I am confident that under Gau's leadership W+K will go from strength to strength in India.”
W+K Delhi opened in 2007 and works with a number of blue-chip global and local clients, including Airbnb, Audi, Dalmia, Fabindia Home, IndiGo Airlines, Nike and Royal Enfield. Famous for award-winning work like Nike DaDaDing, creating the potent brand voice that made IndiGo India’s largest airline and telling the authentic stories that helped build Royal Enfield into a global cult brand, W+K Delhi has grown in the past year with the addition of Indian icon Fabindia as well as global clients such as Airbnb. The agency is committed to pushing these clients into new territories in the digital and experiential space, a speciality of the Delhi office.
