In the ad world where there’s no dearth of new talent, here’s four young people to watch out for
Amod Dani (28)
Creative director, Leo Burnett India
All of 28, this young man already has a couple of Cannes Lions in his bag. Amod Dani won a silver press Lion at Cannes 2010 and bronzes in print and outdoor categories at Spikes Asia 2010 for his Coffee | Ink | Egg | Ketchup campaign for Tide Dirt Magnets. His Tide Magttraction campaign for Tide won him a bronze media Lion at Cannes 2010 besides awards at Clios 2010, Adfest 2010 and One Show 2010. For the Sketch Up campaign for Heinz Ketchup, he scooped an award at Clios 2011 and for Mandatory Voice over campaign for SuprActiv Complete, he won a bronze at Adfest 2010. Dani joined Leo Burnett, Mumbai in 2006 as a copywriter and by 2009, he was promoted to the post of creative director. He is definitely one of the young creatives to watch out for in the coming years.
Ryan Mendonca (26)
Copy supervisor, Ogilvy India
At Ogilvy India, the topmost agency in the country which has no dearth of young talent, his name tops the list of young and upcoming creative geniuses. Ryan Mendonca joined Ogilvy in November 2006 as a copywriter and at 26 is now the creative supervisor at the agency. In 2009, Mendonca won the Young Achiever?s award (hosted by Advertising Club of Bombay) for his Ring the Bell campaign on domestic violence for Breakthrough Trust. His campaign Bank Clerk/Software Engineer/Bus Driver for Breakthrough Trust also won a gold (TV/cinema) at Spikes Asia while How ringing the bell can reduce violence against women campaign got the gold at AME (Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness awards) 2011 for best insights/ strategic thinking. The same campaign also picked up a silver Lion at Cannes.
Raj Deepak Das (31)
Executive creative director, BBDO India
In 2009, Raj Deepak Das moved to BBDO Mumbai as one of the youngest executive creative directors. He has been associated with one of the most successful campaigns from BBDO India for Gillette. For Shavesutra for Gillette, he has won Silver at Cannes Lions in PR category in 2011. For Women Against Lazy Stubble (W.A.L.S) for Gillette, he has won numerous awards at Cannes Lions, AME and Spikes Asia in 2010. The campaign picked up the first ever creative effectiveness award at Cannes 2011. His Nuclear/Sea Level campaign for White Collar Hippies, also got a bronze Lion at Cannes 2011. Das started his career with Enterprise Nexus. He has also worked with Grey India and Contract Advertising. He then joined BBDO Bangkok where he won many metals at Cannes, One Show, Asia Pacific Adfest and AME awards.
Nilesh Sawlani (29)
Creative supervisor (art), JWT India
Nilesh Sawlani has just spent one year at
JWT India and has already been officially named as one of the young and upcoming talents by the agency. Before JWT India, Sawlani spent close to five years at McCann Erickson where he worked on brands such as Pears, Parachute and Radio Mirchi. At JWT India, he has been working on Croma, Kingfisher Airlines (this account has now moved on), Thomas Cook, LIC among others. He has had various nominations at award shows but is yet to scoop an award but this
doesn’t deter him as his work has been highly applauded by his peers and the industry. After his masters in engineering, Sawlani decided to jump onto the advertising bandwagon and joined MICA. Another young gun to look out for.