Diwan Arun Nanda Steps Down As Rediffusion Chair As Agency Marks 50th Anniversary

Diwan Arun Nanda has stepped down as the chairman of Rediffusion as the agency completes 50 years. As per reports, Nanda is demitting charge due to his health and advancing age. The chairmanship of the agency’s Board moves onto his protégé, Dr. Sandeep Goyal, who has worked directly under Nanda for many years. Dr. Goyal will also continue to be Managing Director of Rediffusion.

 Diwan Arun Nanda was the first gold medallist of the very first batch of IIM-A in 1966; he was also in the first batch of management trainees ever recruited by Hindustan Lever. He is credited to be the brain behind the ‘lightning strikes’ mnemonic of Rin of which he was Brand Manager at Lever. Arun Nanda then moved onto MCM, the hottest creative shop of those times, moving on in 1973 to set up Rediffusion.

A two time AAAI President and recipient of the Lifetme Achievement Award in the early 2000s, Diwan Arun Nanda served on the Boards of Air India, Eveready, Kingfisher Airlines, Yes Bank and many more. From 1983 to 1991, he was Advisor to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Mr. Nanda was also Chairman of Dentsu Young & Rubicam, the Asian joint venture of the two advertising giants. 

During his 50 years at Rediffusion, the agency launched innumerable brands, and created hundreds of award winning campaigns ’that became famous, part of the language and the culture of the people’.

“Rediffusion’s 50 years has been a dream run. I enjoyed every moment of the very many hundreds of client interactions, the strategy sessions, the creating of the campaigns and the launching of the brands at the Board level I must thank Ajit Balakrishnan, Suresh Talwar and Sunil Phataphekar, my co-directors for years, for their sage advice always and support to me as Chairman,” says Diwan Nanda. “The agency under Sandeep is in good hands and I am happy to pass on the baton to him at Rediffusion.”

Dr. Sandeep Goyal is a gold medallist in English Literature. He is an MBA and PhD from FMS-Delhi. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School. With nine books on business, marketing and advertising to his credit, Dr. Goyal is a well-known columnist and commentator. He has been the Group CEO of Zee Telefilms, was Chairman of Dentsu India, Chairman of Snapchat India and also served as head of the Punjab CSR Authority