Saumya Chattopadhyay rejoins Rediffusion Y&R as vice president

His mandate will to be add value to existing clients and expand the business of the agency, which has won eight new accounts in the past four months.

Saumya Chattopadhyay is back with Rediffusion Y&R as vice president to head its Delhi office. His last stint was with Ogilvy & Mather, Nairobi as director-strategic planning. He moved to Ogilvy from Rediffusion after a two-year stint as head, planning for the Mumbai and Kolkata branches.

Speaking about the appointment, Amitava Sinha, COO, Rediffusion Y&R says, "This has been an important year for us. We have won eight new businesses. I believe Saumya is joining at the right time when we are looking to rev up our system. Having worked with us in the past, he has an understanding of our ecosystem. I'm sure his global experience will add value to the existing clients and he will work strategically with them to produce better creative work."

Meanwhile, Chattopadhyay touts his appointment as a homecoming of sorts claiming that Rediffusion is like family to him. "When I was working with Rediffusion it always felt like home. I decided to come back because there is an exciting opportunity to build the agency and its business. It's been a great year for the agency and there is quite a lot of momentum which needs to be taken forward."

He plans to use his experience in strategic planning across geographies to the agency's advantage and infuse new energy in the ecosystem. "I'll be using my experience to serve our clients better. I also look forward to energise the young dynamic team we have. It is all about growing the business and do a good job on the existing accounts while pitching for new ones."

In May this year, Rediffusion Y&R won Videocon's creative duties for its telecom, flat panel television and mobile handset business. The account is pegged at Rs 150 crore. Apart from this, the other businesses that are being handled by the Delhi office of the agency include Biba Fashion, Virgin Atlantic (outbound business), Shilpi Cable Technologies, SBS Biotech and IFFCO.

Chattopadhyay comes with more than 17 years of experience in advertising and marketing. After completing his graduation from St Xavier's College, Kolkata, he dabbled in servicing early in his career for about four years. He then went ahead to do his further studies from the Watford School of Business in the UK. This was followed by an internship at Saatchi & Saatchi, London, as a trainee planner.

He came back to India in 2000, to join Ogilvy India, and eventually shifted to Euro RSCG. After spending some time in the advertising industry, Chattopadhyay moved to New Zealand to work with Southseas Film and Television School and Productions as international marketing manager for Asia, but quit two years later, to return to India as director, strategic planning, for Vyas Giannetti Creative.

He later moved to JWT, then DDB MILK+Co Malaysia followed by Rediffusion-Y&R, before he joined Ogilvy Africa. Interestingly, Chattopadhyay has also cut an album with Times Music, for his band Yagna, which no longer exists now. He enjoys playing percussion instruments. He is also a voracious reader with Ernest Hemingway being one of his favourite authors.