Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar joins Cheil as chief creative officer

He was previously in a senior leadership role at Bates CHI & Partners in India and South East Asia.

Cheil India has announced the appointment of Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar as chief creative officer at Cheil SWA. In this role, Mahabaleshwarkar will be responsible for the creative product of the company across all its business divisions.

With over two decades of experience across some of the best communication groups, he is one of the most recognised and awarded names in the business. He has been a part of Bates CHI & Partners in India and South East Asia, and has also held very senior positions at Rediffusion-Y&R and Ogilvy & Mather in the past.

Commenting on the appointment, Shiv Sethuraman, group president, Cheil South-West Asia, says, "Mahabaleshwarkar doesn't need a certificate from anyone. His talent, passion and work ethics are well-known in the business and we are privileged to have him lead Cheil. I am confident he will take our creative reputation to great heights."

Mahabaleshwarkar, on his part, says that Sethuraman has put an exciting team together. "I look forward to be a part of it. My aim is to do new age integrated work that will take Cheil's creative reputation to the next level. It's already on the right track -- recent wins are proof of that," says he.

Mahabaleshwarkar holds a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from MSU Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. He has also lent his name to impactful campaigns for brands such as Tata Motors (Nano, Safari, Sumo), Fiat, Colgate, Airtel, Virgin Mobile, Uninor, Amaron Batteries, SBI Life Insurance, Dell, Tata Sky, Tata AIG Life, Titan, Neo Sports, KBC, Colors, MTV and Kingfisher.