The new responsibility comes on top of Bhasin's role as director of Lintas' integrated marketing action group (IMAG), helming its below-the-line and through-the-line divisions, including, Linterland (rural marketing), d-cell (design), and Lintertainment (entertainment marketing) among others.
Bhasin discounted the possibility of spreading himself too thin with the extra load. "Both of these are high involvement jobs but the teams are set -- each office of SSC&B Lintas has a head in place, and so does every division of IMAG."
While Chandwani has been credited with making the agency a creative force -- it won over 100 international awards including a gold at Cannes over the last decade -- the new agenda is to attract big brands. Bhasin said next year's target would be to grow at twice the rate of the market, requiring the agency to implement an aggressive new business drive for its offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Bhasin said the offices would have to secure new business on their own steam since no aligned business is expected in the near future.
Bhasin takes on Lintas' MD job as Chandwani exits
Lowe's second India shop SSC&B Lintas has given Ashish Bhasin the extra role of president following the departure of the agency's founder Ajay Chandwani (Media, October 22).