Publicis India gets Neeraj Bassi as managing partner and CSO

Publicis India has announced the appointment of Neeraj Bassi as managing partner and chief strategy officer.

 

Bassi will be based in New Delhi. Prior to this he was consulting independently.

 

He replaces Sudeep Gohil who moved out of the agency in August this year. 

 

 Saurabh Varma, CEO, Publicis Communications, South Asia, said, “In Neeraj, we found a partner with a shared vision of driving a deeper level of integration within the Groupe by leveraging the Power of One model. Neeraj’s vast experience and media neutral planning approach will help clients in building a holistic brand experience which will aim to create one-to-one consumer engagement, at scale. I look forward to working with Neeraj and wish him the best of luck.”

 

Srija Chatterjee, MD - Publicis Worldwide, India, said, “Neeraj joins at a time when the Groupe is implementing a profound transformation which puts our clients front and centre of everything that we do. His wealth of experience of working across diverse sectors and with cross-functional teams, will help build a narrative around our clients’ business and marketing transformation that connects data, content and technology in an omni-channel world. I’m excited to welcome Neeraj to the Publicis Groupe family, and we look forward to him riding the next strategic wave at the agency.”

 

Bobby Pawar, MD and CCO, Publicis Worldwide, India, added, “I’ve always believed great work is born out of a strong partnership between strategy, creative and clients. Neeraj Bassi has a history of creating strategic platforms that killer ideas can springboard from. His cross-platform approach to planning will also be a huge asset to our march towards the future of creativity. It also helps that he is fun to be around. I can chat with him for hours; the chemistry is very important when you are going to be more or less living out of each other’s metaphorical pockets.”

 

Bassi said, “I am really excited to be part of Publicis India and looking forward to partnering Bobby and Srija to create stellar work that stands out in the market. Working with clients as an independent consultant has given me an insight on the primary concerns of CXOs and how communication can help resolve them. Clients today need an omni channel approach to planning that focuses on identifying and solving their business problems holistically, rather than getting trapped in a discipline specific approach. I am fascinated by the way all Groupe companies have come together at Publicis to create PowerofOne, and I look forward to wielding this power to build successful campaigns for our clients.”

 

Bassi has had stints with TNS, IMRB, NFO, Cheil, Ogilvy, JWT and McCann in India and abroad.