Josy Paul elevated to Chairman and Group Chief Creative Officer at BBDO India

MUMBAI: In advertising, the best ideas do more than sell; they leave a mark. Josy Paul, the creative force behind some of India’s most memorable campaigns, has been elevated to Chairman and Group Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Group India, placing him at the helm of the creative vision across the group’s three agencies.

Paul, who previously served as Chairman of BBDO India, will now oversee creative direction across BBDO India, Ulka and Mudra. The three agencies form BBDO Group India, part of Omnicom Advertising, and the elevation comes as the group looks to bring its creative ambition and agency cultures closer together following the Omnicom and IPG merger.

Paul co-founded BBDO India in 2008, building the agency around the philosophy of ‘Create acts, not ads’. The idea reflects a style of advertising that seeks to move beyond conventional product messaging and create work capable of influencing conversations, behaviour and culture.

Over the years, that approach has found expression in campaigns such as Ariel’s ‘Share The Load’, Whisper’s ‘Touch The Pickle’, Gillette’s ‘Women Against Lazy Stubble’ and Mirinda’s ‘Release The Pressure’. The campaigns tackled subjects ranging from the unequal distribution of household work and menstrual taboos to gender stereotypes and parental pressure, helping brands enter conversations that extended well beyond their products.

Paul’s work has won more than 25 Cannes Lions, including a Grand Prix and multiple Gold awards. Ariel’s ‘Share The Load’ was also ranked the world’s most effective campaign by WARC twice in a row, making it a notable example of how a social insight can translate into sustained brand impact.

The new role gives Paul a wider brief than leading a single agency. Rather than focusing only on BBDO India, he will help shape the creative direction of three agencies with distinct histories, teams and client relationships. The challenge will be to establish a shared creative ambition while allowing each agency to retain the strengths that have shaped its identity.

Jitender Dabas, CEO of BBDO Group India, described Paul as a leader whose influence extends beyond the campaigns he has created. “Josy is not just another creative luminary. He is an institution in himself and one of the tallest creative leaders I have worked with,” Dabas said.

He added that Paul’s reputation rested on work that had built brands while challenging cultural norms. Dabas also pointed to Paul’s enthusiasm for people, ideas and possibilities as an important quality as the group develops its collective creative culture.

“As we build the new BBDO Group India, I can think of no better partner to help shape its creative ambition and culture,” Dabas said.

Paul, meanwhile, struck a note of continued curiosity rather than arrival. “After all these years, I still feel like a beginner,” he said, describing the elevation as both an honour and a responsibility.

He said the group’s next chapter would involve bringing together agencies with different cultures, histories and people. “I see it as creating a bigger room for creativity,” Paul said, adding that there was still much to build collectively.

Paul also acknowledged Dabas’s role in shaping the group, describing their working relationship as a source of creative and strategic energy. His comments point to a leadership arrangement in which group-level creative direction and the broader business agenda will need to develop alongside one another.

The elevation follows Dabas’s appointment as CEO of BBDO Group India in February 2026, after the Omnicom and IPG merger. Together, the appointments mark a further step in organising the group’s leadership and establishing a common creative direction across its agencies.

The group’s client portfolio spans a broad cross-section of India’s consumer, technology, mobility and financial services businesses. Its clients include Amul, Tata Motors, McDonald’s, Mars, Meta, Procter & Gamble, ICICI, ITC, Royal Enfield, Uber, Red Bull, Mercedes-Benz, William Grant & Sons, Adani, Tata Beverages, Birla Opus, LT Foods, LIC and the Reserve Bank of India, among others.

For BBDO Group India, the expanded role places one of the country’s best-known advertising creatives in a position to influence work across a larger agency network. The task will be to translate a record of culturally resonant campaigns into a shared creative approach across BBDO India, Ulka and Mudra, while continuing to produce work that earns attention for reasons beyond the media budget behind it.

In an industry where leadership transitions often bring new structures and reporting lines, the real test will be what emerges from the creative brief. Paul’s appointment signals an ambition to give the group a more unified creative voice; whether that translates into campaigns with the cultural staying power of ‘Share The Load’ will be the measure that matters most.