namaste, India!

We officially announced today  that Wieden + Kennedy has established an office in Delhi.  Potential clients be aware: W+K India is open for business this week! 

We are, I am told,  the first western agency to enter India in over 20 years.  And - we would claim - the first creatively driven agency ever to enter this market.  Given the importance of emerging markets to our current clients, it was imperative that we have offices in both China and India.  And Nokia was the win that allowed us to accomplish this goal.   

Some words borrowed from our COO, Dave Luhr:
All our interviews in India kept leading us to two individuals - V Sunil and Mohit Dhar Jayal.  Dan Wieden probably put our feelings best - "It is always our goal when opening a new office to find talent in the local market that would embody the culture of Wieden+Kennedy. From the first time I chatted with both Sunil and Mohit, the synergies were obvious. Their success in India is unprecedented, and coupling that with our commitment to developing groundbreaking creative for our clients is what makes this union so exciting."

Sunil and Mohit left big agency jobs to open their own shop ('A') about three years ago.  A's client list includes the India tourism account ("Incredible India"), Royal Enfield motorcycles and IndiGo airlines (India's coolest and most successful low-fare airline).  The agency has a staff of about 12 people.  Their creative is outstanding and they work hard to stretch the definition of what an ad agency can do.  On IndiGo, they have done everything from art directing the outside of the planes to designing the uniforms for the flight attendants.

We are merging A's operations into W+K to form W+K India.  All of their current clients and staffing will transition with Sunil and Mohit to W+K .  In addition, W+K Delhi will immediately begin servicing the recently won Nokia account. Sunil and Mohit will be part of the team building the global Nokia brand and will be servicing the local needs of the Nokia brand in India as well.  Prior to founding his agency, Sunil served as Creative Director at O&M Delhi. Sunil has won over 25 international awards from Cannes to the One Show.  Mohit has held key positions at agencies in India and abroad, including Leo Burnett London and Euro RSCG India, following which he established his own brand development agency.

We met up with Sunil and Mohit on our visit to India last week. They're great, talented guys and we're thrilled to have them on board.   

Exciting times!