Ashish Bhasin, former Asia-Pacific CEO and chairman of Dentsu International, has joined RD&X Network as its co-founder and chairman. This is his comeback to the advertising business after a short break.
RD&X Network is a global advertising and marketing transformation startup. It was founded by Rajiv Dingra, former CEO of WATConsult (which is a part of the Dentsu International India). RD&X Network is headquartered in Dubai and has technology teams based in Bangalore and Mumbai catering to a global market with a special focus on USA, Middle East, and APAC regions. Dingra and Bhasin made the announcement on social media.
On 12 November 2021, Ashish Bhasin quit as CEO APAC, and chairman India of Dentsu International to explore and focus on his personal interests. In the last seven months, he took the time off and pursued an Advanced Management Program at Harvard.
Storyboard18 was the first to report about Bhasin’s possible exit from the Japanese ad network, after the accelerated ‘transformation’ rocked Dentsu International’s operations in India with a series of leadership changes. He had declined the move then. However, two months later the company officially announced Bhasin’s ‘retirement’.
Many in the industry thought with this exit Bhasin was ready to retire from advertising. After all, he has been in the business for close to 34 years. However, Bhasin had different plans and is making a comeback with RD&X.
Senior executives that Storyboard18 spoke to say Bhasin’s comeback is “not surprising”. A chief executive of an ad network company says, “Taking up mentorship role is a sensible move for Ashish. Betting on emerging businesses is tactical and smart. Given his experience, this could take off well for him.” However, another chief executive opines, “It’s time (for) Ashish to slow down. He had his fair share of glory.”
Meanwhile, at Dentsu International India, there have been several mid-and senior-level exits. There are several vacant spots in the company and the network company still has no CEO to run the show in India. Although times are tough at Dentsu’s India HQ, several former executives of the company have begun their new life chapters.