Prasanna Sankhe moves on from Publicis Ambience

Sankhe has spent five years with the agency, where he rose from senior creative director to national creative director.

After Aniruddha Banerjee, Publicis Ambience has lost another experienced hand, with national creative director, Prasanna Sankhe calling it a day at the agency. Putting the rumour mills to rest, Sankhe has confirmed the development to afaqs!.

Having joined the agency as senior creative director, Sankhe ends a five-year stint at Publicis Ambience. This was his second stint at the agency. He had first joined the agency in 2000, before moving to Alok Nanda and Company (ANC) in 2003, where he worked for three years.

In this second stint at the agency, he climbed up the ladder and was soon made executive creative director. In 2007, Sankhe was promoted to national creative director along with Ashish Khazanchi, when the agency moved to a dual-NCD structure.

Says Sankhe, "It has been wonderful at Publicis. Since I became national creative director, the mandate in front of me was very clear -- besides creating big, popular campaigns, to make Publicis amongst the top three agencies at Goafest and improve our performance at the international awards as well."

In his career, he has worked on brands such as De Beers, VIP, Lux, Godrej, Gujarat Ambuja, Mauritius Tourism, Western Union Money Transfer, Marico, Lakme, Nerolac and Barista.

While at Publicis Ambience, he was among the key people behind the Reserve Bank of India's media awareness campaign on the authenticity of banknotes, as well as the Park Avenue deodorant campaigns.

"While creating the campaigns for Citibank, Himani Fast Relief, Reserve Bank of India and Park Avenue deodorants, it gives me great satisfaction to know that we have managed to be in the top three agencies two years in a row at the Goafest, including a Cannes gold this year. I wish Publicis all the best and hope that this tradition is carried forward in the coming years as well," Sankhe says.

Regarding his future plans, Sankhe is weighing his options and has not reached a concrete decision yet. He adds that he is evaluating options in advertising, design and in the area of brand management.

"Now that I feel a sense of fulfilment of this challenge at Publicis, I am seeking out bigger challenges. I still have to figure out which path will be the most challenging and stimulating for me in the future," says Sankhe.

Sankhe is a graduate from the JJ School of Arts, Mumbai.

Khazanchi, who was promoted to the post of vice-chairperson, in addition to his existing creative role at the agency last year, says that Sankhe's moving out is also a personal loss to him. "He was not just my art partner; but we have been, and remain great friends. It is not just the agency's loss, but mine too. We have won together, lost together, jumped in joy together and anguished together. It is yet to sink in," he exclaims.

On whether the agency will look to replace Sankhe and continue with the dual-NCD structure, Khazanchi says that the decision makers have not thought about that yet.