Hires & Promotions: Aha, The Womb, Rediffusion

aha names Rakesh CK the EVP & Head of SVOD and Marketing

Rakesh CK has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Head of SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) & Marketing at aha. This news was confirmed on his LinkedIn profile.

Previously, he held the position of Senior Vice President and Head of SVOD & Business Strategy at the company. Rakesh CK joined the OTT platform in April 2022. Before his tenure at aha, he served as Vice President and Business Director for WB, UP-Bihar, and North East regions.

His professional background includes roles at Airtel Business, Standard Chartered, and SBI Cards.
 

Suyash Khabya takes charge as Chief Creative Officer at The Womb

The Womb has elevated Suyash Khabya's elevation as the Chief Creative Officer. With 23 years of zigzagging through the ad world- from Bates to BBH to Ogilvy to his home, The Womb - Khabya brings a truckload of creativity and a dash of wit to his new role.

"We couldn't be more thrilled about Suyash leading our creative charge, He’s been part of The Womb for the last 8 years. He’s helped build the creative culture of ‘Simple Yet Unignorable’ work that we believe in," say Navin Talreja and Kawal Shoor, founders of The Womb. "His quirky charm and unmatched creativity are exactly what we need.”

"The Womb is home. Not once in the last 8 years did I think of looking anywhere else because since Day 1, The Womb has stood strong on some principles I totally identify with – No Pitch, No speculative work, No ‘Forced Purpose’ to win awards. In a world of network agencies and even newer independent agencies, Navin and Kawal have stuck to their guns and that’s fab!," quips Khabya.

“At The Womb, we aren’t slaves of an idea, we are its mother. We give birth an idea, we nurture it and when required we also turn into Durga Maa to protect it. Because it’s very easy to give in. As passionate creatives, it’s important to hold ground. And yes, we do all this keeping the client’s ‘business’ as the north star. I also believe that the world needs more insanity, more laughs…this was the space advertising gave up to stand-up comics, influencers, reels and went on the path of ‘higher purpose’, we need more humour back in advertising. My agenda for my creative team is to do more unexpected kinds of work and ideas that have got new-age imbibed in them. In a cluttered media mix, ideas need an X factor for them to be unignorable. We need more of those,” adds Khabya.

This ‘blue collared’ advertising creative was part of the 1st creative course at MICA. Beyond advertising, Khabya has written a couple of TV serials and an OTT show. Under the leadership of new CEO Anurag Gupta, The Womb is all set to break stereotypes and redefine creativity with Suyash at the helm.

Tarun Chaudhary joins Rediffusion as Head of North India Operations

Rediffusion has appointed Tarun Chaudhary as Executive Vice President and Head of North India operations. Based at the Gurgaon office of the agency, he will head the Delhi and Chandigarh offices.

With a rich experience spanning over 25 years in advertising, sports marketing, consumer tech, digital media, and event management, Chaudhary has made a natural disposition towards leadership. He started his career in 1998 with Rediffusion in Bangalore and, a little later, came to Delhi, spending many years working for some of the best advertisement agencies.

He comes with an extensive portfolio, wherein he has worked with major Indian and multinational brands such as Nestle, Godfrey Phillips, PNB Housing Finance, Kenstar, Electrolux, Mitsubishi Motors, Philips, BPL, McDowell's, Hain Celestial, Central Park, and Krisumi.

In the year 2007, Chaudhary further followed his passion for sports with a Master in Sports Administration from AIST, Switzerland, popularly known as the IOC Master. It is one of the highly ranked institutes for Sport Management Studies in the world. After graduating from the institute, he set up and ran the sports marketing division for Dentsu in 2008 and led the creation of India's first successful mass fantasy gaming portal, the Indian Fantasy League.

In 2011, Chaudhary set up the sports marketing and events wing of Innocean and handled Hyundai's sponsorship of the cricket World Cup 2011, in which India won for the second time. He also led the initiative for FC Barcelona's India project.

Chaudhary was again the CEO of the Indian Aces the only Indian franchise in the International Premier Tennis League, IPTL, again underscoring his versatility in different fields of leadership.

“We welcome Tarun back to Rediffusion and wish him every success in his role as a regional leader at Rediffusion. Tarun and I have worked together before; he is very mature and a dependable pair of hands,” says Sandeep Goyal, chairman of Rediffusion.

He shares, "Delhi for Rediffusion is an office that is fast growing. I feel proud to lead it and hope we shall reel some great nos as much as create some great work".