Amit Akali to exit Grey

Amit Akali, joint NCD and EVP, Grey India, has put in his papers. His last day at Grey will be 15 March 2014.

On his move, Akali said, “It’s been a fabulous three years at Grey, especially the last year where we won ‘Campaign of the Year’ at Goafest and Grey India’s first ever Gold Lion at Cannes. But as a creative person you constantly need new challenges to excite you. There are a lot of facets of communication and creativity; digital, branded content, new media that I’ve been wanting to explore and haven’t done so yet. I’m 39, and thought now was the time to get out of my comfort zone and take the next big step of the rest of my life.”

Akali and Malvika Mehra, the agency’s other NCD and EVP, had joined Grey in early 2010 moving from Ogilvy & Mather Bengaluru. Mehra will continue at Grey, informed Akali.

Commenting on their partnership, he said, “We’ve been together for 10 years and have achieved a lot together. We’re perhaps one of the few creative people to win three campaigns of the year (Surprisngly SBI, Hutch Rangashankara and now for Killer Green Fold at Grey). Creating Bingo! and building brands like Titan, Lenovo, Reliance, Killer, Britannia Cakes, etc. have been great experiences. As have been heading Ogilvy Bangalore and Grey India. We’ve won every national and international award in the book. And it’s been a fabulous journey with some fantastic highs.”