Bates CHI & Partners strengthens Bengaluru operations; gets Mukund Sharma as ECD

Sharma moves in from Rediffusion, where he headed the agency's creative front in Bengaluru.

In a move to strengthen its Bengaluru operations, Bates CHI & Partners has roped in Mukund Sharma as executive creative director. Based in Bengaluru, he will report to the agency's national creative director, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar.

Sharma, who has close to two decades of experience, joins Bates from Rediffusion-Y&R, where he was creative head of the agency's Bengaluru office. Earlier, he has worked with agencies such as JWT and Ogilvy. At Rediffusion, the brands Sharma worked on include Arrow New York (launch campaign), Signature and Reliance Jewels. Some of the categories he has worked on in his career include beer (Kingfisher, Foster's), apparel (Levi's, Van Heusen and of course, Arrow) and IT (IBM).

Bates CHI & Partners has also appointed Devesh Desai as senior creative director in Bengaluru. Desai, who has 20 years of advertising experience, moves in from Hansa Cequity, a data analysis firm. Agencies he has worked with in the past include SSC&B Lintas (a now defunct set up that served as Lowe's second agency before Pickle was launched in 2008), Contract Advertising and Everest Brand Solutions. He will also report to Mahabaleshwarkar.

The development comes close on the heels of the agency's rebranding from Bates India to Bates CHI & Partners.

Commenting on the two new appointments, Sanjay Thapar, chief executive officer, Bates CHI & Partners India, says in an official communiqué, "Bengaluru is an important market for us. Given their expertise and track record, I am confident that both Sharma and Desai will help take our work and relationships to the next level of creativity."

The new recruits will now work in sync with the �new model network' that reflects the �Changengage' belief adopted by the agency in October, 2011.

It may be recalled that Bates Asia recently got into a joint venture with CHI & Partners that led to the current name, Bates CHI & Partners. The agency's new identity in its entirety will be rolled out in February, 2013. This rebranding came about not too long after the agency changed its name from Bates 141 to just Bates (Bates India in the country) last year.