FCB Group India Announces Organisational Restructuring and Key Elevations

FCB Group India, with its shining pride of eight lions, was India’s No 1 creative agency at the recent Cannes Lions 2021. The group has seen an extraordinary creative transformation over the last four years. It has consistently been winning top honours at all the prestigious global creativity festivals including One Show, Clio, LIA, The Andys, D&AD, Spikes and of course Cannes. These wins are a testimony to the Group’s commitment to creative excellence and the belief that the creative product should always be the heart of the business.

And on the back of this success, FCB Group India today announces the reorganisation of its creative agencies in India, along with key elevations.

In its ‘Never Finished’ pursuit of excellence, the group announces organisational restructuring with three full-service agency brands in India – FCB Ulka, FCB Interface, and FCB India. These three agencies will be a part of FCB Group India. “It is imperative for us now, more than ever before, to be able to provide our clients with the strategic direction and creativity they need to navigate the new world we live in today. Our new structure allows for our best people to provide focused and dedicated partnership to our clients; to bring the disruptive creativity, agility, and fluidity that is required today to transform our clients’ businesses and create unmissable brands,” said Rohit Ohri, chairman & CEO, FCB Group India.  

With the new three creative agency structure, agency stalwarts Nitin Karkare, Swati Bhattacharya, Robby Mathew, and Joe Thaliath will take on more prominent roles. 

FCB Ulka

Nitin Karkare: Vice Chairman

One word that is most often used to describe Nitin is 'Mr. Dependable'. It is this trait that has helped him stay cool through 35 action-packed years in advertising. Starting as a management trainee at Ulka Advertising to becoming the vice chairman is indeed an extraordinary journey. Nitin is known to forge long-term partnerships, be it his clients, teams, colleagues, or associates. His worldview is driven by a strategic perspective and long-term solutions. His rich industry knowledge and deep insight into clients and their businesses set him apart as a truly inspirational leader.

FCB India

Swati Bhattacharya: Creative Chairperson

Swati Bhattacharya has recently been named to 'Adweek Creative 100' for 2021. A recognition that does FCB and India proud.

Swati is a humanist. Her work finds wonder and awe in the joys and beauty of human existence, its challenges, and its tragedies. It draws from human culture and the life stance that brands can only find relevance if they inspire hope and enrich people's lives. In 2016 she became India's first woman CCO when she joined FCB Ulka.  Under her leadership, FCB has won more than 120 awards at prestigious award festivals like One Show, Cannes, Clio, D&AD, Kyoorius, etc. While she stays married to advertising, she periodically makes short films.

FCB Interface

Robby Mathew: Vice Chairman & CCO

Despite having an MBA degree, Robby's urge to look at things differently and his out-of-the-box thinking led him to a career not just in Advertising but also in Creative. With over two decades at FCB Interface, Robby drives the agency's creative agenda with a fervent passion. A man of extraordinarily high standards, Robby has created some of the agency's most memorable campaigns for brands like Mahindra, Oreo, Bluestar, and Agrotech Foods. Robby's ability to appreciate the clients' business problems and leverage powerful creative ideas to solve them makes him an exceptional creative leader.

FCB Interface

Joe Thaliath: Vice Chairman & CEO

A retail pioneer and entrepreneur, Joe started his advertising career with FCB Ulka in Cochin. After a successful stint in Cochin, he came to Mumbai and led many different businesses before becoming the CEO of FCB Interface. Through his 30 odd years with the Group, Joe has worked on global and Indian mega brands across the automotive, FMCG, publishing, media, and telecom sectors. Known for his easy, affable style, Joe believes that good creative is like chess, and you need the right strategy to win. 

Speaking on the occasion, Rohit Ohri, chairman and CEO, FCB Group India, said: "Nitin, Swati, Robby, and Joe have been the pillars of the Group. The creative work that Swati and Robby have done over the last four years has made FCB Group India shine brightly on the global creativity firmament. Nitin and Joe have ensured that our creativity was a powerful economic multiplier for our clients. Together, they have scripted our creative transformation story."

"I believe this new three creative agency structure sets up the group perfectly to serve our clients better, with sharper focus on their business, and for accelerated growth as we look to our next 60 years in India. It signals the empowerment of our creative leaders and the building of sustainability in our creative transformation journey," Rohit added.

FCB Group India has also appointed the next level of leadership for each of its agencies. The announcement will follow soon.