Ogilvy's Ujjwal Anand to head Milestone Brandcom's rural and experiential division

He will report to Nabendu Bhattacharya, CEO, Milestone Brandcom.

Milestone Brandcom, the out-of-home agency of Dentsu Aegis Network, has roped in Ujjwal Anand as country head for its rural and experiential division, Milestone Outland. Anand will be based in Delhi and will report to Nabendu Bhattacharya, CEO, Milestone Brandcom.

As part of his mandate, Anand will be responsible for driving strategic offerings at Milestone Outland through freshly created tools that can help clients take investment decisions with measurable results. Moreover, he will also head the agency's experiential offerings with a focus on emerging markets and emerging consumer class (ECC) across the rural and urban markets, in addition to consolidating the existing businesses and working towards widening the agency's presence across India.

Anand joins from Geometry Global, Ogilvy's activation network, which was earlier known as OgilvyAction. He spent 10 years with the agency as business head, North, and vice president, leading experiential practices, that included rural, urban, social and shopper marketing.

Talking about the appointment, Bhattacharya says, "Ujjwal's rich experience and impeccable track record makes him an ideal choice to drive integrated experiential solutions at Milestone Brandcom. He will address specific brand problems. His energy is well-aligned with the agency's vision and philosophy. We are in an investment mode and will build a 50-member team for Milestone Outland by December 2015."

On his new role, Anand says, "Experiential advertising is the fastest growing segment of the industry today and its cutting edge lies in digital experiential. Technology, clubbed with creative idea, is the key to finding great solutions for any brand. I feel Milestone has created a benchmark in the industry. With innovations such as Milestone Optimizer and Milestone Tracker, the agency has created tools that will make every penny accountable."

In his career spanning 12 years, Anand has worked with brands such as GSK, Dabur, Vodafone, OLX, GPI, Motorola, Micromax, Samsung, Peerless, Coca-Cola, TripAdvisor and DuPont. He has also handled brands in the social and developmental sector and government clients including Orissa Tourism, NSDC, MAMTA, PSI, FHI, CHAI, WATSAN and SIFPSA.

Anand began his career with Advent, the events and activation arm of Lowe Lintas. Subsequently, he joined Linterland, the rural marketing arm of Lowe Lintas, in Kolkata. After a two-year stint, he moved to OgilvyAction to handle its rural business in Delhi. In five years, he was promoted as vice president to head all the service offerings of OgilvyAction - Rural, Shopper, Experiential, Trade, Promotional and Social in North.

Milestone Brandcom has made 15 new recruitments for its experiential division across functions such as creative, account management, account planning, insight, content and operations. Some of the agency's clients include Binani Cement, Tata Sky, Colors, &TV, Axis Bank, ABP News, ABP Majha, Zee Anmol, Bajaj Platina, Telenor, Petronas and Tata Docomo.