Grey appoints Dheeraj Sinha as head, planning, South and Southeast Asia

Sinha, former regional planning director of Bates India, will fill in for Bindu Sethi, who quit the agency last year. However, the official statement puts him as a consultant.

Dheeraj Sinha, former regional planning director of Bates India, has joined Grey as head, planning, South and Southeast Asia. In his new role, he will be based at the agency's Mumbai office.

He will join as a consultant at Grey. Confirming the news to afaqs!, Jishnu Sen, president and chief executive officer, Grey India, says, "We have been trying to fill in Bindu Sethi's place for a while but couldn't find a replacement. When Dheeraj left Bates, he started consulting Grey for some of our projects. We thought that our overall chemistry was fantastic. His insights were fabulous, and that is when we decided that we will take him as a full-time consultant."

Sinha had put in his papers at Bates India in May this year. This announcement came a day after Sanjay Thapar's appointment as chief executive officer for Bates India.

Before joining Bates in 2005, Sinha was at Euro RSCG. He has also worked for McCann Erickson. Last year, Sinha launched his first book, Consumer India: Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet. He has won several effectiveness awards, including the Jay Chiat Planning Award, the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Award, as well as the Effies Award.

Sinha is an alumnus of Delhi University and MICA. In his long career, he has worked across categories including telecom, finance, FMCG, media, automotive, consumer durables, information technology, tourism and food.

Some of the brands that Sinha has worked closely on in terms of brand strategy are Colgate, Fiat, Virgin Mobile, MasterCard, LG, Reckitt Benckiser, AIG, DBS, TVS Motorcycles, Max Bupa, Marico, Dabur and Cavin Kare.