Grey reshuffles top management

Kaizad Pardiwalla has joined Grey Mumbai as branch head, while Hari Krishnan has moved back to lead Grey's South operations.

Grey India has roped Kaizad Pardiwalla to head the agency's Mumbai branch. In his previous role, Pardiwalla had headed Bates 141's Mumbai office for a year. Pardiwalla takes charge from April 11.

Meanwhile, former Mumbai branch head of Grey, Hari Krishnan has moved back to the South, to lead Grey's operations in the region as vice-president and head. Pardiwalla and Krishnan will both report to Jishnu Sen, chief operating officer, Grey India.

On the development, Sen says, "Grey Mumbai is our flagship office and I expect Pardiwalla to bring his considerable talent and experience to lead the office to the next level of growth and ideas."

Having begun his career with Lowe Lintas in 1995, Pardiwalla moved to Ogilvy in 1997. After a seven-year stint, Pardiwalla was appointed business director at OgilvyOne Worldwide, heading the operations in the Western region. Moving up the ranks, he became the national head of OgilvyOne India.

The brands Pardiwalla has worked on over the years include American Express, Cadbury, CISO, IBM, ICICI Lombard, ITC, The Economist, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, Colgate Palmolive, Tang, Fiat, TVS, Tata AIG, MTV, Pfizer, and ICICI Cards among others.

"Grey is highly motivated now after winning some key accounts in the recent past. I am looking forward to working with Sen and the rest of the team, to do even better work in the coming years," says Pardiwalla.

Pardiwalla tells afaqs! that he wants to continue where Krishnan left off and that he has a three-point agenda ahead.

"I am looking forward to consolidate the new accounts won at Grey and ensure good business ahead. Secondly, I want to identify the gaps, understand the categories we are good at and the ones we are not, and fill them up. I want to ensure integrated work at Grey, moving beyond just advertising," he says.

Krishnan, on the other hand, is familiar with Grey's operations in South India as he was the Bengaluru branch head in 2007-10.

"Krishnan needed to go back to Bengaluru for personal reasons. His familiarity with both the office and the market will help propel our South operations into a growth trajectory," Sen adds.

"I have had a great time in Grey Mumbai. From being a part of some thrilling new business pitches, to some memorable campaigns, it has been a great ride," says Krishnan.

After a brief stint at STAR Plus, where he was vice-president - marketing, Krishnan moved back to Grey in March, 2010, to head the Mumbai branch.

During his tenure in Mumbai, Grey picked up significant accounts, which included Reliance Communications.