Born a proud Mumbai-ite, Raj Kamble is a graduate of the Sir JJ School of Applied Art. He started his career at Enterprise Nexus/Lowe, Mumbai, where he went on to win half a dozen Clio Awards and three D&AD Silver Pencils in his formative years. He then moved to Lowe Howard Spink, London, where he worked on brands such as Stella Artois, Unilever, Nestle and Saab. After 2 years in London, he took up a new role as Creative Director at Lowe New York. His winning streak continued as he bagged One Show Gold and a Gold Lion at Cannes for his work for Stella Artois, Gillette and Light of Life Foundation. In 2010, he was hired by BBDO New York. His work titled ‘World’s Biggest Shave’ was talked about in the Financial Times, CNBC and the New York Times. After more than a decade in the business, Kamble moved back to his hometown, as the Managing Partner for BBH India where he handled accounts like Vaseline, Diageo, World Gold Council and Google Chrome, etc. He is now Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Famous Innovations. In 5 years since its inception, Famous has created some iconic innovations for several Indian and Global brands, is a three-time winner of South Asia Independent Agency of the Year by Campaign India and was listed among the World’s Leading Independent Agencies in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Raj has cumulatively won more than 150 global awards including at Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, the Clio Award, the Andy Awards, ADFEST and Art Directors Club. He has been jury at Cannes, One Show, Adfest, etc. He has given lectures at institutes such as the Kellogg Institute of Management and Columbia University. He also runs Miami Ad School in India. Most recently, he has been elected to the Board of Governors at IIM-Kozhikode.
Kamal has over 21 years of experience in the area of Accounts. This includes extensive international experience in formulating accounting and administrative procedure in the Advertising Industry. Before Famous, he worked as Commercial Manager at McCann Erickson India from 2007 to 2011. He has also been Commercial Head at Mudra Communications and Commercial Manager at Commonwealth (joint venture with Goodby Silverstein and Mccann Worldwide). As an independent, Famous is an exciting and refreshing environment, and Kamal is glad to be working with a young, enthusiastic team.
Mithila Saraf joined Famous Innovations in 2012 before it had any employees, clients (or even laptops!) with the hope to make a real difference in the world of communications. She studied Economics and Communications at New York University, and spent her early career at top media houses like NBC New York, CNN-IBN and Education Times. At Famous, she has steered growth for brands like Raymond, Mahindra, Titan, Van Heusen, Zivame, Sobha, Swiggy, Wildcraft, etc. as well as for Famous as a brand itself. Mithila represented India globally at Cannes Young Lions 2016 and 2017, winning against over 250 participants. She was also nominated as the South Asia Young Achiever of 2016 and 2018 by Campaign South Asia. An IMPACT 30-under-30 winner, she was also featured in AdAge Rising Stars under 30. An active voice in the industry, she has spoken for gender equality and giving youth more opportunities in advertising on several forums. She has been on the jury for Effies India twice and is regularly published in advertising media like Campaign, IMPACT, Adage, etc.
Sumit is a chameleon. From classic to kitsch, his work is hard to classify. And that’s what makes him a one-of-a-kind art-director in the world of advertising. Born and raised on the internet he sees design and art as a way to capture shrinking attention spans. Over the course of 9 years his work has straddled industries like finance, confectionary, alcohol, television and real estate. An ever-curious creator he is always looking for his next challenge.
Shahnawaz started his journey with Ogilvy & Mather, where he spent 6 years honing his skills and creating award winning work. Over the years, Shahnawaz has worked on some of the biggest brands in India such as Cadburys, Bajaj, Unilever, Star Network, MP Tourism, Rajasthan Tourism and Asian Paints. His pursuit of creativity beyond advertising brought him to Famous Innovations, an independent agency that encourages independent thinking. Since then, he has created award winning advertising/content pieces for brands such as Snapdeal, Nestle, Nanhi Kali, Haier, Livpure, Monster Jobs and Burger King. He has also written a full-length feature film, and directed a short film which is doing the rounds of short film festivals around the world. A cinema addict, Shahnawaz loves just about any kind of movie. The ones that should be watched from the front row of a single screen with whistles to the ones that are queued for at the most prestigious film festivals.
From large units to creative hot-shops, Melvin Jacob has learned to go media agnostic in close to two decades in advertising. Apart from working at Ogilvy and Lowe in two countries, he’s co-founded a digital content start-up and done memorable stints at RMG David and Propaganda India. Along the way, he’s worked in Malaysia, Dubai, Chennai and Bangalore and has handled brands like IKEA, Ford, Max Life Insurance, Singapore Tourism, Royal Enfield, MRF, Nivea, Nissan, QuickBooks, Britannia, Lenovo and IBM. He’s won India’s first ever Spikes Grand Prix for music, helped score an Independent Agency of the Year title and received appreciation from Ogilvy and Lowe Creative Councils. When he isn’t crafting the creative product, he jams with filmmakers, leads a rock band, teaches advertising in colleges and practices martial arts.
The hallmark of Amit’s brand of advertising is that he brings art to story telling and storytelling to art. Both coming together to bring success to brands in the market. And in consumers’ hearts. What started with the short-circuit of an engineering programme resulted in anArts degree from the University of Delhi and spawned a career that has seenAmit create memorable campaigns for Indian and global brands. In his 22-year-young advertising stint, Amit has worked in leading agencieslike Grey (including Trikaya), Contract and J. Walter Thompson. MicrosoftWindows XP, Domino’s Pizza, NIIT, Honda Cars, Honda Two Wheelers, Hyundai, General Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Jaypee Cement, Pedigree, GlaxoSmithKline, Proctor & Gamble, FujiFilm, National Geographic, HeroMoto Corp, Times of India, Nestle, ITC, India Today, Government of India, Whirlpool, SpiceJet, Hindustan Times and Revlon are some of the marquee brands he has contributed to. He is equally proud of nurturing challenger brands like Intex Mobiles, Creambell ice Cream, Kwality DairyBest, Manforce, SetWet Deodorants, Franke Faber and Jubilant Organosys. In a leadership role as an ECD, Amit is widely credited with reigniting the creative department of Grey, Delhi virtually from the scratch and bagging theoffice’s first Cannes Lions and Adfest metals. And, bringing in over 15 new brands into the agency’s fold. At J. Walter Thompson, he continued the winning spree on both brands and the awards annuals. Today, his name features in the winners’ lists at Cannes, One Show, Adfest, Spikes Asia, Luerzer’s Archive, Effies and The Work besides India’s very own Goafest/Abby more than fifty times. At Publicis India, he helped bring alive the true spirit of the Power of One philosophy of the organisation. While keeping creativity at the heart of work done for brands like Nestle, Beam Suntory, SpiceJet, GPI, Funfoods, Monte Carlo, VIVO.