Umesh Shrikhande joins Taproot India as CEO

His mandate at Taproot is to take creative boutique to next level of growth and expansion

Umesh Shrikhande, who recently left JWT's Contract Advertising, has joined Taproot India (part of the Dentsu India Group) as chief executive officer from today.

His mandate at Taproot is to take the creative boutique to the next level of growth and expansion.

Shrikhande, who has nearly 20 years of experience in the field of advertising, started his career with Lintas (now Lowe Lintas & Partners), where he spent six years.

Thereafter he was a core member of Team Contract for nine year. He then joined Euro RSCG. Subsequently, he also worked with Lemon (Founded by Ravi Deshpande), after which he went back to Contract in 2005 where in 2008, he took over from Jagdip Bakshi as the CEO of Contract India.

Shrikhande has experience in the areas of design, direct and digital to enhance traditional advertising. He has worked with variety of clients and brands such as HSBC, Cadbury, Asian Paints, Shopper's Stop, Philips, VIP, Bajaj Auto, BBC World, Aegon-Religare, Tata Indicom, Disney, Zoom, DNA and Grasim.

Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman of the Dentsu India Group, said, “I’m delighted that Umesh has chosen to join us. Aggi, Paddy and I look forward to his partnership in this exciting new phase of growth at Taproot. Umesh is an industry professional I’ve always had the highest regard for and now, I’m happy to have this opportunity to work with him.”

Agnello Dias, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot India said, “I am glad to have Umesh's vast experience on our side, which will be a guiding light for us as we scramble around doing what we think is the right thing. He is sharp, insightful and most important possesses great clarity on the way mass communication in the contemporary world works. Everything we need.”

Shrikhande said, “Our collective endeavour will be to build on Taproot’s innate strengths and culture to create a stronger organisation. I hope that my understanding of strategy, people and relationships, helps me to make a difference.”

“With the kind of experience Umesh has and the number of youngsters Taproot has, it will be a wonderful blend,” said Santosh Padhi, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot India.