Rediffusion Y&R promoted Mahesh Chauhan as group CEO . Chauhan has been president of Rediffusion DY&R for the last two years. He takes over from Diwan Arun Nanda and his mandate will be to look after group companies such as TME, Wunderman, Showdiff, Rediffusion Public Relations, OAP-Touchpoint, as well as Rediffusion DY&R.
Chauhan has around 16 years of experience and has worked in agencies such as O&M, Leo Burnett and Rediffusion. He started as a trainee in O&M Mumbai and worked there for two years. He then moved to Rediffusion DY&R Bengaluru as an account supervisor and spent another two years there. Next, he was with Leo Burnett Mumbai for two years as account director, before moving to O&M Mumbai again as account director and then as regional business director. His second stint at O&M lasted four years. He then joined Rediffusion DY&R Mumbai again in 2002 as vice-president. Over the years, Chauhan has worked on brands such as Cadbury, HUL, Shell, Annapurna, Tata Motors, Castrol and Amaron.
Chauhan said, “I have just been doing my work and, after spending 25 years, Arun felt this was the right time to pull back. He saw something in me and decided to hand over the responsibilities to me.”
In an official communiqué, Nanda says, “My journey at Rediffusion DY&R began along with Ajit Balakrishnan in 1973, when we started the agency to show the world that there was much more to advertising than writing smart slogans and drawing pictures. Now, I believe the time has come for me to step aside and hand over the reins to Mahesh, who has the passion, vision and drive to take the company to the next level.”