Iqbal Raj joins Ashe Marcom as creative partner

He returns to advertising after his last stint at Basecamp India as creative head.

Ashe Marcom, a 360 degree advertising and marketing firm, has appointed Iqbal Raj as its creative partner. Raj, who has been writing film scripts, has returned to advertising after his last stint at Basecamp India as creative head.

Having over 25 years of overall experience - he started his career with Lintas (now Lowe Lintas) in 1987 - Raj has worked with FCB Ulka and then Everest. Subsequently, he set up his own production house. Six years after that, he joined Contract for two years before moving to Rediffusion Y&R. He joined Percept/H in March 2008 as NCD. Later he joined Basecamp India (owned by former DDB Mudra creative hand, Anil Bhardwaj) as creative head before quitting to pursue a writing career in films.

Speaking on his new role, Raj says, "Charming, witty, sophisticated, devilishly handsome and irresistible to women, I am none of these but then we all need to make a living! Early in college I discovered that the girls were falling for leftist intellectuals and paying for the coffee as well. To improve my own chances, I read everything of, for and by Marx. By the time I realized that I should have been reading Karl, and not Groucho, it was too late to change philosophies. I am quite excited about this new assignment."

Shreepad Shende, managing director states, "I am happy to have Iqbal on board. He is someone who makes the entire team play Taboo in office. We found a perfect cultural fit in Iqbal and are poised to take our agency to the next level of growth" Over the years, Raj has worked on an array of brands including Rin, Surf, Wheel, Rexona, Lifebuoy, Parachute hair Oil, Hair & Care, Ceat Tyres, Cadbury, Crompton & Crompton, Voltas, Godrej Storewel, Deutsche Bank, Decolam, Johnson & Johnson, GMR, Air Deccan, HSBC, P & G - Vicks, Oil of Olay and Vaposyrup, SBI Mutual Fund and Bajaj Allianz.

He has several awards to his credit including a Silver Tree, an award for a public service campaign, an Effie and Ad Club awards for Wheel, Surf Radio and Ceat Tyres.