Cheil X ropes in Souvik Datta as national creative director

Cheil X, part of the newly restructured Cheil SWA Group, has named Souvik Datta its national creative director, making him co-lead of the agency’s creative function alongside Amit Nandwani. Datta joins from McCann Worldgroup where he headed creative for the West and earlier, the North. He has worked on large-scale brand campaigns for Hero MotoCorp, Nestlé (Maggi), Domino’s, Reckitt, and Asian Paints.

Dayya will report to Vikash Chemjong, chief creative officer at Cheil SWA Group. While his new remit is part of Cheil X’s “creative strengthening” initiative, it also coincides with the group’s wider business pivot and ongoing structural realignments.

With over 23 years of experience at McCann, Lowe, TBWA, and Contract, Datta has worked on campaigns for Liril, Tanishq, Fastrack, ICICI Prudential, Dettol, and others across key metros. His work, according to agency statements, has garnered both awards and business outcomes—though it remains to be seen how that translates at Cheil X, now tasked with proving its mettle beyond its long-standing Samsung relationship.

Commenting on the appointment, Jitender Dabas, CEO, Cheil X, said, “I’ve worked with Souvik and know just how good he is at steering big brands and businesses... ideas that create impact every moment across the consumer journey.” While that may be the mandate, Cheil X now faces the challenge of delivering tangible value in a market that’s shifting faster than legacy metrics.

Nandwani, who continues in his national creative role, brings 22 years of experience across Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, McCann, and DDB Mudra, having worked on Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Star Sports, Philips, and more. A former director of over 20 TVCs, he brings a “directorial sensibility” to the table—an asset Cheil will likely leverage across high-production integrated campaigns.

Meanwhile, Rajit Gupta, currently leading Cheil X’s Mumbai creative, has been handed a wider remit to head brand experience and design capabilities nationally. His expanded role includes responsibility for spatial, experiential, and environmental design—signalling a push by the agency to stitch together creative and experience design under one narrative.

Chemjong summed up the talent shuffle by saying, “Great advertising people also move people... and with Jeetu (Jitender Dabas) coming in, talent has begun to move steadily towards Cheil X.”  

A month ago, Cheil India restructured into the Cheil SWA Group, under the leadership of Carlos LimSeob Chung, President and CEO. The reorganisation brought with it a bifurcation of business wherein the Samsung mandate remains with Cheil India, while all non-Samsung businesses now fall under Cheil X, led by Dabas. This move also saw Mandeep Sharma take on the COO role at Cheil India, focusing on business transformation, CRM, and customer experience.

As part of the Cheil SWA Group, Cheil now operates through seven specialised business arms, offering services from performance marketing and D2C ecommerce to spatial design and content production. Some of the notable units include CYLNDR as the content production hub (VFX, CGI, editing), NewsRx that is focused on retail design and in-store branding and its Global Data Centre that builds and executes automated, data-led marketing strategies.

Cheil’s digital and influencer division alone employs over 300 professionals, focused on performance marketing, influencer campaigns, and ecommerce solutions. But amid this expansion, Cheil SWA Group’s Q1 2025 report showed a dip.

Like-for-like net revenue fell 11.4% to $217 million, while marketing services dropped 7.5% to $196 million. Technology services saw a steep 36.9% decline, down to $20 million. Staff count dropped 8% YoY to about 7,000.

While these numbers reflect wider macroeconomic volatility, they also underline the pressure on Cheil X to prove its viability as more than just a Samsung offshoot. With big-name hires and expanded mandates, the agency seems to be placing its creative chips on reinvention. Whether clients buy in—and for how long—remains the bigger story.