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Tag: Akshay Kapnadak

  • Infectious Advertising hires ex-filmmaker Siddharth Kumar as creative director

    Infectious Advertising hires ex-filmmaker Siddharth Kumar as creative director

    MUMBAI: Siddharth Kumar has returned to the ad world—this time with a few reels under his belt and a mission to shake up creative norms. Infectious Advertising has appointed him as its new creative director, adding a splash of film-school flair to its creative stable.

    The Mumbai-based agency announced the appointment on 23 April 2025. Kumar, who briefly swapped ad scripts for screenplays, wrote, directed, and produced four short films that continue to play the global festival circuit.

    But his roots run deep in the agency world. With over 15 years of experience across marquee firms like Ogilvy, McCann, Leo Burnett, VML, and Publicis, Kumar has helped craft campaigns for household names such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, Vodafone, SBI, Airtel, Nestlé, and Mastercard.

    “My goal is to help build a culture where storytelling thrives. I believe my role is to push the envelope, stir things up, and encourage new kinds of madness,” said Kumar.

    Infectious creative chairman & co-founder Ramanuj Shastry had high praise, “Sid has impressed me in the short time that I have known him. He is a solid writer and great human being. I wish him a great innings at Infectious.”

    creative chairman & co-founder Ramanuj Shastry; CCO Akshay Kapnadak

    CCO Akshay Kapnadak echoed the sentiment, “Siddharth is passionate about storytelling, curious about people, enthusiastic about the business and has a great work ethic. I’m looking forward to see what we all can build together.”

    With this move, Infectious seems keen to turn up the creative voltage, bringing together script sensibilities, ad world grit, and a fresh approach to narrative-led campaigns.

  • Boutique agency Infectious Advertising hires Akshay Kapnadak as chief creative officer

    Boutique agency Infectious Advertising hires Akshay Kapnadak as chief creative officer

    MUMBAI: It’s the coming together of two creative guys to build something bigger than the sum of both. Infectious Advertising  creative chairman & founder Ramanuj Shastry has roped in veteran Akshay Kapnadak as the boutique agency’s chief creative officer. In his new role, Akshay will work together with Ramanuj  to elevate the agency’s creative product to the next level.

    An alumnus of the JJ Institute of Applied Arts, Akshay has been building brands and winning awards for close to 27 years. He spent the first 16 years of his career at McCann Erickson Mumbai, starting as a trainee and rising to the rank of executive creative director. 

    During this time, Akshay built strong teams and developed campaigns for a diverse range of clients, including global brands like Coca-Cola and L’Oréal, and leading Indian brands like Parachute, Pears, Radio Mirchi, and NDTV.

    His work has earned both local and international accolades, including Gold at Cannes Lions and The One Show. He has served on juries at Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, AdFest Asia, and Goafest. After McCann, Akshay ventured into independent consulting, mentoring start-ups, and leading design and communication projects across South and Southeast Asia.

    Ramanuj and Infectious Advertising CEO & co-founder Nisha Singhani are infectiously excited to have Akshay on board, if you read on and hear what they have to say about Akshay’s joining the agency. 

    “I worked very closely with Akshay for nearly half a decade at McCann,” says Ramanuj. “He is a fab guy with a brilliant mind and boundless energy. It will be lovely to work together again. Can’t wait for him to join.”

    Adds Nisha: “We are thrilled that Akshay has chosen to join us. He is an exciting mind, a lovely person, and aligns perfectly with our values and our mission to deliver impactful ideas for our clients. I’m confident that he will lead us to new creative heights.”

    Akshay, on his part , is over the moon on being on-boarded at the agency. Says he: “Infectious has built a reputation for strategic solidity and authentic storytelling. I’m excited to join this passionate team and eager to contribute to Infectious’ vision to build brands with purpose, ingenuity, and integrity,”

    The 11 year old Infectious’ leitmotif is: creating work that solves problems facing brands and businesses. Among their clients figure National Geographic, ALD Automotive, Bayer Crop Sciences, UltraTech Cement, Inorbit Malls, IDFC, and TBZ – The Original, and many more.  It recently  launched its content arm-Epidemik Content, delivering content with best-in-class production that’s value for money, embracing AI and new-age storytelling.

    With Akshay being signed on the three are expecting an epidemic of creativity to hit Infectious

  • McCann Worldgroup India announces key creative leadership

    McCann Worldgroup India announces key creative leadership

    MUMBAI: McCann Worldgroup has announced key senior creative leadership changes: promotions, and inclusion of senior level talent, for its India operations.

     

    Pradyumna Chauhan and Prateek Bhardwaj have been assigned the position of joint National Creative Directors. Both will report to McCann Worldgroup executive chairman and CEO and south Asia president Prasoon Joshi.

     

    Announcing the changes, Joshi said, “As an agency we are committed to our clients’ business and do everything possible to bring the best and most cutting-edge talent onboard. These are carefully selected professionals in whom I have great faithand high expectations. I am positive that they will further enhance our creative product and add yet another dimension to the McCann offering.”

     

    Chauhan has been with McCann for a year, and comes with over a decade and a half of experience across brands such as MP Tourism, Star Network, Airtel, ICICI Bank, Birla Sun life, Asian Paints and others.

     

    This is Bhardwaj’s second stint with McCann. He has extensive experience in the industry across agencies and brands such as Sprite, Kinley, Chlormint, MasterCard, HP and Reebok. Bhardwaj co-founded and ran an independent agency, Eleven Brandworks, and brings along this entrepreneurial mindset, together with the exposure to big brands.

     

    These two talents shall further bolster McCann’s creative prowess. “McCann has a stellar creative reputation, and I am excited with the new role. I look forward to taking the agency to greater heights,” said Chauhan. Bhardwaj added here, “Having worked here earlier and having seen the world I am certain that I can tangibly add value to our clients with the new responsibility entrusted to us.”

     

    Other senior creative leadership announcements include:

     

    Mumbai:

    Akshay Kapnadak and Abhinav Tripathi have been elevated to the role of Creative Heads of McCann’s advertising operations in Mumbai. Denzil Machado will now head McCann’s Craft Excellence for Mumbai. This trio will be responsible for the Creative Department in McCann, Mumbai.

     

    South region:

    McCann’s Creative Head for South, Anil Thomas, will now have extended responsibilities as his role expands across South Asia, where he shall provide creative inputs and vision on a need basis.

     

    New Delhi:

    ECDs Ravinder Siwach and Kapil Batra will continue to lead their respective responsibilities.

  • Rahul Mathew quits McCann

    Rahul Mathew quits McCann

    MUMBAI: Rahul Mathew, the executive creative director at McCann Erickson has put in his papers.

     

    Speaking about his association with the company, Mathew says, “McCann is more than just another agency for me. My two stints here account for eight years of my advertising career. It has also helped me shape a lot of my craft. It has not been an easy move to make. It became even more difficult because of the fact that I will also have to leave behind a great art partner in Akshay Kapnadak.”

     

    Mathew has been in the advertising industry for about 15 years. He has been a part of many award winning campaigns that have received acclaim at both domestic and international levels. At McCann, he along with his team has won three Cannes Lions, four One Show pencils, over a dozen Adfest metals and many metals and honours at International award shows.

     

    “But the pride of place on the very crowded mantelpiece belongs to the Grand Prix that the Mumbai office won at the recently concluded Spikes. Even at Goafest 2013, McCann Mumbai was one of the most awarded offices, accounting for a lion’s share of McCann’s metals including a Grand Prix. We also tasted similar success at effectiveness awards, both nationally and internationally,” he says proudly.

     

    Talking about his work at the agency, he adds, “We’ve had great fun creating work on brands like Parachute, ACC, Pears, Western Union and many others. And have managed to fill the creative pool with some rare talent. And thus, there is reassurance that I’m leaving after making a positive impact at the place. And that I leave it in a good place.”

     

    Prior to joining McCann, Mathew was with Rediffusion, Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy (Healthcare), Leo Burnett, JWT, Enterprise Nexus. He has been ranked among the top five creative professionals in India in 2009 by Campaign Brief Asia and was ranked the 8th most awarded copywriter in Asia (as per Haymarket Publications and Campaign Asia) in 2012.

     

    Rahul finds the building and reinventing process a lot more exciting and challenging. And thus, he will look for an opportunity that allows him to do that all over again.