Publicis India, a part of Publicis Groupe India, has appointed Aman Mannan and Shitu Patil as joint national creative directors (NCDs). In their new roles, the duo will lead the creative vision for all brands at Publicis India, and report to managing director, Oindrila Roy.
Mannan has nearly 25 years of experience across leading agencies such as Interface Communication, McCann Erickson, DDB Mudra Group, and Leo Burnett India. Under his creative leadership, these agencies earned widespread acclaim at prestigious events such as Cannes, The One Show, Clios, LIA, ABBYs, and Effies (India and APAC), among others.
Additionally, he has served as a jury member at Goafest, Radio Mirchi Awards, and OOH Awards. Aman has worked with a range of brands such as P&G, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Mahindra and Mahindra, Godrej, Sony, Amazon, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life, among others. He has also co-authored the story and screenplay for the popular web show ‘Saas, Bahu aur Flamingo’, earning the nomination for Best Screenplay at the Filmfare OTT Awards.
A creative leader with 23 years of advertising and branding experience, Patil joined L&K Saatchi & Saatchi in 2022, starting her second stint with the Groupe. She has worked with leading agencies like Lowe Lintas, FCB and Publicis Ambience. She also successfully ran her own design agency, Plus One. Shitu’s accolades include D&AD, Effies, ABBYs, and Kyoorius awards, along with jury roles at D&AD and ABBYs. Her diverse brand portfolio features Lakme, Raymond, Cartier, Renault, and others.
In the new roles as NCDs, Mannan and Patil will leverage their expertise to lead the agency’s creative vision across all offices in India.
Paritosh Srivastava, CEO, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis India, said, “Publicis India has been on an amazing journey of resurgence in the past 2 years, with a focus on both growth and creative excellence yielding rich dividends. Our impressive portfolio of work and client roster rival that of any top agency in the country. The search for the perfect blend of creative talent and cultural fit was challenging, but in Aman and Shitu, we have found a team of rare creative talent that spans the entire spectrum of creativity. We are confident that these two wonderful people will inspire our teams and clients to new heights.”
Roy added, “Aman and Shitu are a powerhouse of creativity and their experience in delivering award-winning work reaffirms this. We are confident that as NCDs, they will inspire our teams with new energies. We are certain that their creative prowess and strategic acumen will contribute to the continued success and growth of Publicis India.”
Patil said, “My journey at the agency has been nothing short of exciting and full of learnings. I am thankful to Paritosh, Oindrila, and the entire team for their continued trust and support. I really believe we are as good as our people and my focus is going to be on uplifting and strengthening our teams further to create distinguished work and take both our clients and agency to greater glory. I am excited about this new journey and look forward to closely working with Paritosh, Oindrila and Aman.”
Mannan added, “I am looking forward to working closely with Paritosh, Oindrila, and the team to build on the great work they have already done. I hope to create state-of-the-art solutions, placing art firmly at the centre of our endeavours and infusing new-age work with age-old wisdom. I aim to integrate the best practices of cinema writing and thinking into our projects, contributing to the development of a unique voice for Publicis India.”