Santosh Padhi quits Taproot Dentsu

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As Dentsu International India accelerates its transformation, several leadership changes are underway at the advertising company. Santosh Padhi, chief creative officer and co-founder of Taproot Dentsu, has quit the agency in the latest departure from the group, multiple people aware of the development told Storyboard.

Padhi hadn’t responded to a query from Storyboard by the time this report was filed. Taproot was founded by Padhi and Agnello Dias in 2009. Three years later, Dentsu acquired the independent agency, just one of the many acquisitions by the Indian unit of the Japanese advertising giant in the past decade.

Also Read: Dentsu India hit by series of top-level exits

Taproot Dentsu’s client roster includes brands like Facebook, Lenovo and Airtel.

Earlier this year, Dias had taken a step back from active work and relinquished his position at the company, but continued as a consultant for key brands. But he recently made a full exit from the firm.

Storyboard has also learnt that Divya Karani, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dentsu Media South Asia and CEO, Dentsu X India may get additional responsibilities after the recent departure of Dentsu India’s CEO, Anand Bhadkamkar.

In an email response to queries from Storyboard on these matters, the company spokesperson said, “We don't respond to market speculations.”

In the past two weeks, six senior executives have left Dentsu International India. Four of these executives ran digital entities and divisions, which contribute nearly 50% of total revenue at the company.

The company has also made senior-level hires in recent weeks. Dentsu Creative hired Ajay Gahlaut as its group chief creative officer (GCCO). Vinod Thadani joined Dentsu Media Group as chief digital growth officer, and CEO of Dentsu International India’s agency iProspect. Rohit Suri has come on board as Chief HR Officer (CHRO), South Asia, Dentsu International. Interestingly, both Thadani and Suri come from rival network company GroupM.

In 2020, Dentsu announced it would cut the number of global brands from 160 to six as part of a major transformation of the Tokyo-based group’s international operations. Consolidation of its over 20 agency brands in India is now being accelerated.

Also Read: Dentsu Creative ropes in Ajay Gahlaut as group chief creative officer

In an earlier email response to Storyboard’s queries on the movements, the company spokesperson said “Dentsu India 2.0” would be a more integrated network. The goal of this exercise is to simplify the structure into three services lines i.e. creative, media and CXM, or customer experience management.

The spokesperson said about the changes in leadership and structures, “This is a planned journey for Dentsu India. Nothing unexpected. In fact, you are going to hear a few more people movements within Dentsu India including some very senior-level execs joining us.”

The spokesperson added: “Every single change that you are witnessing right now is part of the network’s plan to globally transform into the most integrated network of the world by 2024. As you know, we decided to take this journey last September. While we are quite on track with our timeline in other markets, India has been lagging when compared to other markets. India is extremely critical to us and so we need to pace up if we are to level up with the rest. Thus, the reset into Dentsu India 2.0.”