Sanjay Sipahimalani has joined Bates 141 as its new Executive Creative Director, after leaving Vyas Giannetti Creative as a Creative Head.
“My stint at VGC was fruitful, especially so when I recall that as part of a team, we won prestigious accounts such as Travelocity and Religare. But now, I am excited and looking forward to working with Subhash Kamath, with whom I share a wonderful working equation. My association with him goes back to my earlier stints at Ogilvy and Trikaya,” said Siphahimalani, on leaving VGC.
“Fabulous writing skills make Sipahimalani a valuable asset to any organisation. Having worked with him earlier, I can proudly say that this man has no ego and is very focused on his work. Besides having considerable brand experience, Sipahimalani is a strategist at par and I am looking forward to exploiting this very skill set of his to derive the best results for the organization,” says Kamath, CEO, Bates 141.
The new position will entail traveling between Bangalore and Mumbai quite frequently, in addition to raise the long overdue qualitative changes in copy writing.
“I would love to be involved in the larger process of, say, pitching to the client and fully using the resources of the organisation to come up with the best quality work for the clients. It is going to be a enriching experience working in close association with experienced people such as Sonal Dabral, Chairman, Bates David Enterprise, and Regional Executive Creative Director, Bates Asia Pacific, and Rajeev Raja, Executive Creative Director and Head, Bates 141 Creative, Mumbai.”
Sipahimalani wasn’t initially an adman, first having gotten in chartered accountancy. He became disillusioned with chartered accountancy and, to some extent, journalism. He began his career in advertising as a copywriter with Ogilvy Benson & Mather, in Mumbai. From then on there was no looking back, and his path carried through to various agencies like Trikaya Grey, now Grey Worldwide, Lowe, SSC&B Lintas, Euro RSCG and Publicis.
He has worked with a number of high-profile brands including Philips, Saffola, Kinetic Motorcycles, Kotak Mahindra, Nestle’s Maggi, ABN Amro Bank, BBC Worldwide and the Aditya Birla Group. He has won numerous accolades at the New York Festivals, Graphis Awards and been a Clio and Cannes finalist twice.