Narayan Devanathan, chief client officer, dentsu India, is exiting the agency and with that ending his 11-year long stint. According to a statement from dentsu, Devanathan is aiming to pursue interests outside the advertising industry.
He had joined the network in 2011 from Euro RSCG, where he was chief strategy officer.
Peter Huijboom, interim CEO, dentsu India, said, “Narayan’s leadership has played an instrumental role in successfully aligning dentsu India with the company’s global ambitions of becoming the most integrated advertising network in the world. His relentless commitment towards providing the finest solutions to our clients is commendable and I wish him all the best on his new endeavor. There is a solid winning leadership in place, led by Divya Karani, Amit Wadhwa and Anubhav Sonthalia - that continues to serve our clients with excellence, perfection, and passion. Our ambitions for India are on an upward trajectory and we are moving ahead full throttle.”
Devanathan added, “My association with dentsu goes way beyond the varied roles that I have held within the network. Dentsu has been a life-shaping experience for me and the decision to take this big leap to pursue my interests outside the advertising industry was a tough one but something I am keenly looking forward to. The network is a rich powerhouse of expertise; the enormity of exposure it offers is way beyond many milestones. As I look back, I am filled with gratitude to have been closely working with many of the best talents and industry leaders within the network.”
Devanathan has also had stints with Ogilvy, Cramer Krasselt, RK Swamy BBDO and Vyapthi Communications.
In addition to these two exits, in the last year, dentsu India, has seen the departures of
Titus Upputuru (NCD, Taproot dentsu), Ayesha Ghosh (CEO, Taproot dentsu),
PG Aditiya (CCO, dentsu Webchutney), Gautam Reghunath, (CEO, dentsu Webchutney),
Haresh Nayak (president, and MD, Posterscope),
Shamsuddin Jasani (MD - South Asia, Isobar),
Anand Bhadkamkar (CEO, dentsu India),
Gautam Mehra (chief data and product officer, Apac);
Rubeena Singh (CEO, iProspect); and
Vivek Bhargava (head of Dentsu Performance Group).