Bates merges with David in India

MUMBAI: WPP has announced that the Indian operation of Bates Asia will be merged with David, Ogilvy India’s second agency network to form a new entity Bates David Enterprise.

It will be led by Subhash Kamath as chief executive officer, while Mohammed Khan will continue as founder chairman, however chairman and national creative director Josy Paul in pursuit of “personal interests” has left the organisation.

Ogilvy & Mather (India & South Asia) executive chairman Piyush Pandey said, “I am delighted that David is merging with Bates. During a short span of 7 years, David created a unique way of finding creative solutions for brands and clients under the leadership of Josy Paul, as its Chairman & National Creative Director. It is unfortunate that Josy has chosen to move on and pursue his personal interests. However, I am certain that his band of youngsters will take forward the spirit of David into the merged entity.”

The day to day running of each branch office will be alloted to senior management in respective cities. The offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai, will offer a complete range of communication services, states an official release.

The core philosophy of Bates David Enterprise is founded on ‘change’ and going forward, this new entity will be constantly evolving to meet new needs that emerge from ever changing consumer behaviour. It will reinvent itself almost on an ongoing basis by bringing in new skill sets in digital, change planning, etc.

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Commenting on the occasion Kamath said, ” I believe the merger makes perfect sense. Both are very passionate teams and this brings together some great minds on an enviable set of brands. I look forward to welcoming the David team into the family. Even historically, both Ted Bates and David Ogilvy were very close friends and had a lot of respect for each other.”

Both companies board of directors have approved the merger. The integration process is expected to be completed over the next two months. This development is in line with WPP’s strategy of investing and consolidating its networks in fast growing key markets like India.