Singapore – Ogilvy Asia has appointed Kunal Jeswani as the new group CEO for Ogilvy Singapore and Malaysia, succeeding Chris Riley, who is departing the agency, effective June 2022.
Jeswani has been with Ogilvy in India for the last 17 years. He has been CEO of Ogilvy India since 2015. Prior to that, Jeswani was the chief digital officer of Ogilvy India. During Jeswani’s tenure as CEO, Ogilvy India has become a leading agency in the Indian market.
He holds an extensive understanding of the business, having spent over two decades in the communications industry. Among his successes, he is known to have worked with high-value clients namely Unilever, Mondelez, Vodafone, Pidilite, The Tata Group, and The ITC Group. He has also worked on the launch of the Indian Premier League for the Board of Cricket Control in India and the South Asia Cricket Boards’ successful bid for the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Kent Wertime, Ogilvy Asia co-CEO and chairman of Ogilvy Singapore and Malaysia Group, said of the appointment, “I couldn’t be more thrilled that Jeswani is taking up this important role. Jeswani lives the Ogilvy spirit: he cares deeply about Ogilvy people and what we stand for, he is focused on building close client relationships, he is deeply passionate about the creative product for our clients, and he constantly aims to shape and transform the Ogilvy service offering through innovation, new capabilities and new partnerships.”
Simultaneously, VR Rajesh will be elevated to group president of Ogilvy India. As group president, he will lead the integrated Ogilvy India P&L across all offices and will be responsible for the acceleration of all core Ogilvy capabilities in India.
Piyush Pandey, chairman of global Creative and executive chairman of Ogilvy India Ogilvy, commented that Rajesh is a fantastic leader and a pivotal driver of their business and culture. Pandey added that Rajesh joined Ogilvy in 2004 and has grown from strength to strength within Ogilvy.
“Since 2018, he has led Ogilvy Mumbai and Kolkata, growing the business consistently year after year. He embodies Ogilvy values and knows how critical it is to nurture strong talent in our business. He is a powerful growth driver, an influential client partner, and a passionate creative partner. Rajesh also understands the importance of transformation in our business and has demonstrated this time and again – championing new transformative roles, new capabilities and new revenue streams,” Pandey said.
