Gautam Talwar takes on the role of Chief Strategy Officer for Rediffusion - Y&R

Rediffusion Y&R, one of the top communications agencies in the country has announced yet another strategic leadership development.  Gautam Talwar is being elevated to Chief Strategy Officer at Rediffusion - Y&R.  He takes over as the Head of the Strategic Planning function from Arvind Mohan who has decided to move on in pursuit of his next career goal. 

Gautam Talwar joined Rediffusion - Y&R in April 2010 as Executive Vice President – New Business Development and Special Projects.  He has made significant contribution to the new business initiatives undertaken by Rediffusion over the last 1 year in addition to creating a strategic path for the agency to enter into the new media space.

Gautam brings to the table more than 14 years of experience in the advertising and entertainment space.  He began his career with Grey Worldwide, followed by several years at Lowe in account management and strategic planning. His career path then took him to Lateral Solutions (Netpreneurship) followed by Lowe Dubai and most recently, Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt Ltd. 

Speaking on the development, D. Rajappa, President, Rediffusion - Y&R, said, “Gautam has been instrumental in leading the new business mandate at Rediffusion - Y&R. He is a Thinker and a New Media proponent who is well versed in brand strategy across different markets, with cross category experience amongst varied consumer segments. ”

On his new assignment, Gautam Talwar said, “Rediffusion - Y&R has always been respected for its commitment to building great brands. With this opportunity I hope to leverage my strategic strengths and build further on this legacy by creating meaningful communication that will deliver on brand objectives and create campaigns that will work for our clients and the agency”

Prior to joining Rediffusion, Gautam was the creative and business head for Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt.Ltd, where he set up the mobile content division, developed original concepts and content for television and the mobile space. He was also the executive producer on two full length feature films.

He has spent three years with Lowe & Partners – Middle East & North Africa (Dubai) as the Regional Account Director on the Unilever business.  At Lowe Dubai, he worked on Fair & Lovely, Lifebuoy, OMO, Rexona & Axe, Lux Progress, Signal and was the strategic planner for the largest juice brand in MENA – Almarai juices. 

Across his 5 years at Lowe Mumbai he was the strategic planner on the skin and hair franchise for Unilever, planning on brands such as Fair & Lovely and Clinic franchise. He was also the planning force behind the very successful Balbir Pasha campaign for Population Services International (PSI).

At Grey he worked on cross category brands like Johnson & Johnson, Cadbury Schweppes, Tropicana, Diageo, Emirates Airlines, Akai TV, Tata Tetley, Elf Lubricants & The Bombay Store.

Gautam has two Cannes Finalist certificates for Axe for two consecutive years as well as a New York Silver and an EPICA silver.  He also won the Campaign gold award for the best integrated marketing campaign for 2005 for Axe for the MENA region and won the Unilever internal gold award for global brand activation of Axe.  In addition he is a Silver “Effies” winner for the PSI campaign (Balbir Pasha).

Gautam’s constant source of inspiration are music and movies and he is endlessly fascinated by the layers of the human mind.

About Rediffusion - Y&R
Rediffusion – Y&R is amongst the top communications agencies in India, providing strategic, media and creative solutions to its clients. Rediffusion – Y&R is a dynamic, talented and enthusiastic agency of young professionals in India with offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. Rediffusion – Y&R believes in offering comprehensive integrated marketing solutions across all disciplines to ensure engagement across the value chain of the brand. Rediffusion – Y&R has a symbiotic relationship with the international Y&R network. The agency works closely with their international partners on their proprietary tool, the Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) and also lead pitches for Y&R in other countries. The agency also works together with their Y&R colleagues from across the globe for many brand workshops conducted for their clients. Rediffusion – Y&R strongly believes in creating category-busting communication that becomes famous for itself. Not just campaigns but everlasting brand properties. And testimonies to this vision are the numerous awards from Cannes, D&AD, One Show, ECHO, Golden Montreux, and Davey Awards amongst others.