Ogilvy India shifts senior creative talent to Bangalore as new executive creative directors

Ogilvy India is to transfer Mahesh Gharat and Azazul Haque from the network’s Mumbai office to head the Ogilvy Bangalore creative team in their new roles as Executive Creative Directors.

With 38 years of work experience between them, the two bring to the table a legacy of experience across major brands, to an already thriving Bangalore team. Mahesh (pictured on right) has been with Ogilvy for 9 years and has been awarded more than 50 national and international awards that include Cannes Lions, Asia Pacific, New York Festival, AME and EFFIES. He spends his free time pursuing his passion for painting and photography. 

Having worked on brands like Domino’s Pizza, Nestlé Maggi and Nescafe, Dabur, Maruti Suzuki, Havells and Nokia, Azaz (pictured on left) comes with unbridled enthusiasm and a fresh perspective. At Ogilvy, Azaz has been responsible for creating some memorable work including campaigns including recently the Rajasthan Tourism Campaign.

“Ogilvy Bangalore has always been a great place to work. I am looking forward to the challenge and excitement of working on all of Ogilvy Bangalore’s brands, some of which are Titan, Lenovo, Amazon, ITC Bingo & Yippee Noodles, Fortune Oil, Allen Solly, IBM, MTR,” said Gharat.  “So when Piyush called and said, “You need to make Ogilvy Bangalore rock!” the magnitude of the opportunity resounded in my mind and continues to do so.  Our attempt would be to help these brands become bigger by creating work that is effective and memorable.”

Rajiv Rao, National Creative Director, Ogilvy India said Mahesh and Azaz are one of the rare breed of copy-art teams that’s hard to find. “They have lots of things in common including a crazy passion for clothes, shoes, and of course, advertising. They are fantastic team players and excellent captains. Ogilvy Bangalore, with some of the best brands in the country, is the perfect place for them to lead, inspire and make a huge impact.”

Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia said:  “I am delighted that Azaz and Mahesh have taken the creative leadership role in Bangalore. Bangalore is a key office for Ogilvy & Mather India with leading existing clients and lots of potential ones. Both Azaz and Mahesh understand the traditional Indian consumer and the emerging one. I look forward to some exciting and effective work from our Bangalore office.”

Poran Malani, President, Ogilvy South said: “Azaz and Mahesh, though highly experienced, are young at heart and their energy is highly infectious. It takes something special to excite an already charged up team, and Azaz and Mahesh have done exactly that.”