Ashutosh Karkhanis appointed creative head of Saatchi Mumbai

Saatchi & Saatchi India has brought in Ashutosh Karkhanis as executive creative director at its Mumbai office. As part of his responsibility, Karkhanis will head the creative team in Mumbai. He moves to Saatchi from Ray + Keshavan - The Brand Union, where he was the creative director.

About the new addition to his team, Ramanuj Shastry, national creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, India, said, “Ashu is an awesome talent and an outstanding leader. But more importantly he is an exceptional man. I worked with him at Rediffusion Y&R and in the process became a fan of his work - be it advertising, design, digital or photography. He will bring with him new energies and new thinking that is invaluable.”

Speaking about the development, Nisha Singhania, general manager – Saatchi & Saatchi, Mumbai, said, “Ashu will be a critical driver of transformation at Saatchi & Saatchi. Having worked with Ashu both at Grey and at Rediffusion, I find his passion for ideas absolutely infectious. His experience in design and digital gives us the edge that we need to succeed in today’s VUCA world.”

Karkhanis said, “Today when I see my young sons playing on the iPad, I realise that digital is the future. Meeting with the Saatchi team confirmed my belief. With Saatchi & Saatchi, I have found the perfect match.”

Over his 20-year career span, Karkhanis has worked with Lowe, Enterprise, Ambience, Grey, Contract and Rediffusion Y&R, on clients such as Britannia, Unilever, Kotak Mahindra, HSBC, Asian Paints, Taj Hotels, Economic Times, Kingfisher Airlines, Himalayan Water, Tata Nano and Tata Sky. The roles he has taken on have spanned advertising, design and digital.