FCB Ulka Group CEO and chairman Nagesh Alai will take on the position of global vice chairman at FCB from January 2016.
Rohit Ohri, former chief executive, Dentsu Asia-Pacific (except Japan), will take over from him as group chairman and CEO. Campaign reported Ohri's exit from Dentsu on 27 July 2015.
Speaking with Campaign India, Carter Murray, global CEO, FCB, informed that talks with Ohri had been on for about six months, as part of a succession plan initiated with Alai.
"One of the things I have had on my agenda is succession planning. Rohit has obviously had a very successful track record and has the charisma and the dynamism to lead the large and strong operation we have in India and take it to the next level," he said.
Alai joined the company in May 1990 as VP -- finance, and rose up the ranks to be named ED and group chairman in 2011. In recent times, he has also been involved in advising on the company's operations in some other markets, given his finance and legal background. He had also served as company secretary at the agency.
On Alai's new role and mandate, Murray added, "Rohit doesn't come on board until January and Nagesh obviously has his hands full with the Indian operations until then. Nagesh and I will sit down in the next few months and chart out what exactly his role will be, as he helps me with some global projects. He has already helped out with our operations in South Africa that he is quite familiar with by now."
Over the last few months, under Alai's leadership, FCB Ulka has seen the entry of Suman Srivastava (Marketing Unplugged) as chief strategy officer, and Satbir Singh from Havas Worldwide as chief creative officer.
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(Updated at 10.00 am on 28 July with inputs from Carter Murray)
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