iris hires Publicis Modem / Dialog’s Param Saikia as CEO

iris India has roped in the CEO of Publicis Modem/Dialog, Param Saikia (pictured),  to the post of iris India’s CEO. The agency will bring in 16 more new people in the coming weeks.

Based in Delhi, Saikia will report to Stewart Shanley, the CEO of iris Worldwide.  His initial focus will include working closely with managing director Alok Lall to strengthen the agency’s digital and experiential capabilities, as well as grow iris’ client base in India, which currently includes Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, Shell and adidas.

Said Shanley,“Param’s appointment underpins our strategy of establishing iris as the agency network model for the future – one that is smarter, faster, more flexible, and better to work with than the traditional agency networks. Integration and innovation is at the heart of our output and in Param we have found someone who can drive our ambitions across India, especially in the fastest growing segments like digital and experiential where we are seeing huge demand”. 

Said Saikia, “iris is a very exciting agency with a big ambition and its achievements to date have really impressed me.  The scale of offering, in terms of discipline and geography, coupled with its independence, means that this micro-network can really offer the kind of nimbleness that clients are looking for right now.  I’m looking forward to being part of putting iris well and truly on the industry map in India”.  

Saika has over 20 years of experience gained from well-known advertising agencies across India. His career has seen him work on multinational clients like Coca-Cola, Motorola, Nestle, HP, Intel, Perfetti, Beam brands, Bacardi Martini, Reckitt Benkeiser and General Motors. 

Prior to his current position which he has held since 2007, he was COO of Publicis India since 2002.  Before Publicis he held board level roles at agencies such as Euro RSCG, McCann Erickson and Grey, with his formative years spent at JWT.