BBH: Raj Kamble & Paul Ward exit; Russell Barett takes charge as managing partner

BBH India has promoted its ECD Russell Barett to the post of managing partner; Kamble will move on to pursue other career opportunities; Paul Ward is all set to take a mini-sabbatical.

Raj Kamble, managing partner, BBH India, who replaced Priti Nair in April 2011, has called it quits. Prior to his stint at BBH, Kamble was senior vice-president and creative director, global P&G and Gillette businesses, BBDO Worldwide New York.

Meanwhile, the company has promoted its executive creative director Russell Barett to the post of managing partner.

In another interesting development, Paul Ward, who joined BBH India from BBH Singapore as managing partner in March 2011, is all set to take a mini-sabbatical. He shall tour India and the rest of Asia on a personal trip for two or three months. Subsequently, he will remain in the BBH system in Asia, but sources say that it is not likely to be India again.

Subhash Kamath, managing partner, BBH India, says, "Ward is an old BBH hand, and will surely return to the agency. What his new role will be, and whether that is in India or some other Asian market, is yet to be seen."

Kamath adds that Ward had been roped in at BBH India for the specific purpose of "setting up some of our processes in India".

"That job has already been done. So, let's see how things work out in the future," Kamath muses. On his expectations from Barett, Kamath says that here is a person who possesses good talent and because of his capability, the promotion was a natural progression for him.

Commenting on the management changes in BBH India, BBH's global founder Sir John Hegarty says in an official communiqué, "It's always sad when great creative people leave you; on the other hand, it's a great feeling when you can promote an outstanding creative leader from within. Barett has created most of our best work and put BBH India on the creative map. I believe that with his creative leadership, our Mumbai office will go from strength to strength."

Kamble remarks that when Sir Hegarty asked him to join BBH India, he couldn't refuse. "I was fortunate to do some wonderful work, alongside some of the most talented individuals in the industry," he says, adding, "I have really enjoyed the renewed energy within the agency, but in this journey a few things didn't work out the way I had envisioned them to be and have decided to move on to explore other possibilities."

In a career spanning 14 years, Kamble has worked in Mumbai, London, and New York, and has won multiple awards including Clios, Cannes, D&AD and The One Show. He started out at Enterprise Nexus (now Bates 141), and then joined Lowe, London, and later, New York. Seven years later, he joined BBDO New York as senior vice-president and creative director on P&G and Gillette. He has worked on brands such as The Times of India, Unilever, P&G, J&J, HSBC, Stella Artois, Saab, GMC and Aruba Tourism.

Barett, who joined BBH India in April, 2010, as executive creative director, will join managing partners (Subhash) Kamath and Partha Sinha in leading the Indian operations. In the past year, Barett has helped create campaigns for clients such as Google Chrome, TVS Wego, World Gold Council, and VAT 69, amongst others.

Barett says, "It's an honour to have earned the confidence of Sir John Hegarty and the management team. We're poised to take BBH to the next level in India: sticking to the BBH vision of being the agency that stands for great strategic thinking and outstanding creativity."