DDB Mudra Group India’s Chairman and CCO Sonal Dabral to step down: Rahul Mathew and Brijesh Jacob to take on creative leadership

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Sonal Dabral.jpgSonal Dabral, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group (pictured left), has announced a transition in the Group’s creative leadership and is quitting the agency.

Effective from tomorrow, Rahul Mathew, currently the Creative Head, DDB Mudra West will be appointed as the National Creative Director, DDB Mudra Group and Brijesh Jacob, currently the Joint Managing Director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide will be appointed as the Group’s Chief Creative Technologist.

To facilitate the transition of leadership, both Jacob, and Mathew will be working closely with Dabral until the end of September 2017, after which he will have served out his notice period and will leave the agency.

In his new Group role, Mathew (pictured below) will be responsible for the creative product of the DDB Mudra West while Brij will be responsible for the creative mandate of the DDB Mudra North, DDB Mudra South, DDB MudraMax (Media, OOH and Experiential) and 22feet Tribal Worldwide. This will be in addition to Jacob’s existing role as the Joint Managing Director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide. Both, Jacob and Mathew will be reporting to Vineet Gupta, Group CEO, DDB Mudra Group (Designate) and will jointly lead the overall creative product of the Group.

 

Rahul Mathew_DDB Mudra_2014.jpgQuoting on the transition Dabral said, “I have enjoyed my five years in the DDB Mudra Group, working with a great young team here. I’m happy that in the past few years, we were able to put together a strong creative team with able leaders in all the different entities and offices of the Group. As I move on from the DDB Mudra Group to different creative challenges, I’m excited to announce that Rahul Mathew and Brijesh Jacob will now take on the mantle of leading the creative at the Group. Both Rahul and Brij are very experienced creative leaders and will make a strong combination to lead the Group. Where Rahul brings his storytelling and advertising experience to the table, Brij’s experience with technology and new media, which comes from him leading 22feet Tribal Worldwide for over a decade; makes them a strong combination for any client’s business. I will work closely with both of them over the next few months, to ensure a smooth transition. I wish Rahul, Brij and DDB Mudra Group all the very best.”

Dabral started his career at Ogilvy Mumbai in 1991 and in partnership with Piyush Pandey drove the agency from creative anonymity to India’s No.1 creative agency. He then moved to Ogilvy Kuala Lumpur in 1999. Within three years as the ECD Dabral helped Ogilvy turn into the most awarded agency in Malaysia and one of the top creative offices in Asia. In 2000 one of his spots won the Grand Prix at the Asian Media awards. Soon followed Malaysia’s first One Show Gold. Ogilvy Singapore was next – Dabral led the team to become the No.1 creative office in Asia, and the 3rd highest awarded office in the world at Cannes 2007 – a first for an Asian agency. In 1999 the Times Of India, a leading Indian newspaper had named him as one of the 50 young Indians who will lead India into the next century. Perhaps to keep that promise Dabral returned to India in 2011 and started a new chapter in his career as the Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of DDB Mudra Group.

 

A creative stalwart with close to two decades of experience, Mathew has built many renowned brands and has won multiple awards along the way. Mathew joined DDB Mudra West in 2014 as the Creative Head. Since then, he has worked closely with Sonal Dabral and Rajiv Sabnis, Managing Partner, DDB Mudra West to innovate the agency’s product consistently and to create celebrated work for agency’s diverse client roster.

 

Brijesh Jacob.jpgJacob (pictured left) is one of the pioneers of ‘creativity for digital world’ in India. An SIMC alumnus, Jacob entered the ad-world as a trainee copywriter with Rediffusion Y&R. Since then, he has been associated with strong agency names like Lowe Lintas. His stint with the traditional media ended after his association with Grey Worldwide as an ECD. In 2009, he moved further to be the co-founder of one of India’s top 5 leading digital agencies – 22feet (**Brand Equity Agency Reckoner 2017). Since 22feet’s inception, Jacob has been largely responsible for its creative and technology product of the agency’s Mumbai team. With the ever evolving consumer dynamics Jacob ‘s rational and futuristic stand point has led the agency to win the businesses and trust of the many renowned brands that the team works with.