MUMBAI: Contract Advertising has announced the appointment of Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar as its chief creative officer. With over three decades of experience across leading advertising agencies in India and abroad, Mahabaleshwarkar is a highly feted creative professional with multiple domestic and international awards under his belt. In his long and successful career, he has left his mark on brands like Samsung, Adidas, Grants, Apollo Munich and Jet Airways.
Contract Advertising CEO Raji Ramaswamy said, “I am delighted to welcome Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar as the chief creative officer responsible for guiding the creative output of Contract in the digital age. He is a seasoned new age creative leader who has the finest art and design sensibilities. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the country across both traditional and new media platforms and excelled in every one of them. He has a deep understanding of digital and technology with a strong belief that the future lies in the meeting of the two. He has built strong integrated teams in his earlier roles and we are confident that he will take the agency to the next level as an integrated agency of the future with big ambitions”.
On his appointment, Mahabaleshwarkar said, “The vision of Contract and the direction that JWT group is taking globally, is to make brands agile and to make brands purposeful. That’s a dynamic shift which is challenging and forward looking. Having worked on a winning note in a highly competitive, tech-first consumer business for the last three years, I am confident the shift is in the right direction.”
J Walter Thompson chairman and group CEO Tarun Rai said, “We have been in discussions with Sagar for the last few months. And I am very happy that we have him on board, finally. Sagar is an industry stalwart who has built his reputation over the years across many agencies in India and abroad. He is the ideal creative leader to take Contract to the next level and make it a creative powerhouse.”
"I would like to thank Ashish Chakravarty for providing Contract with the creative leadership and support and in getting us to where we are today. I would also like to wish him the very best for the future,” Ramaswamy added.
Contract's erstwhile CCO, Ashish Chakravarty, is moving to McCann Worldgroup.
