Creativeland Asia brings on board Harshad Lad and Neville Shah

Lad will head creative operations, while Shah has been roped in as creative director.

Creativeland Asia has appointed Harshad Lad as head, creative operations, and Neville Shah as creative director.

Prior to this appointment, Lad was vice-president at Ogilvy India, where he successfully led a business unit on the HUL skin care business. Lad has worked on a variety of brands such as Saffola, Kinetic, Ambuja Cement, ITC Expressions, Indian Oil ExtraCare, Vimal, Diageo, and Timesbank.

With a penchant for holistic brand management, Lad brings with him more than 16 years of experience in advertising. He has also worked in the SME, start-up, and BTL (below the line) spaces.

Shah comes with more than eight years of experience in advertising, and has been associated with agencies such as TBWA, Mudra and JWT, where he has successfully handled brands such as SET Max, Standard Chartered Bank, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Dabur, HBO, Philips, BPL Mobile, and Wrigley. Shah is also a professional stand-up comic, with a flair for theatre and writing.

Commenting on the appointments, Sajan Raj Kurup, founder and creative chairperson, Creativeland Asia, says, "We are growing rapidly, and it was critical for us to get in senior people with the same kind of beliefs as ours."

Kurup has known Lad for about eight years. "His work ethics are impeccable. His varied experience and his understanding of business and brands are invaluable to us. Above all, he comes with a certain degree of discipline, which we deem important at Creativeland," he says.

Kurup adds that Shah brings with him as much passion as experience. "He is multi-talented and self-driven, and at Creativeland, we have seen these qualities take us really far."

Commenting on his new role, Shah says, "It's good to know I'll work with and learn from the most creative bunch of people."

Lad says, "To me, Creativeland is a place of like minds, and a very good platform for me to return to holistic brand communications and management. The work, culture, philosophy, and the people at Creativeland, inspire me greatly."