Sandeep Goyal takes over from Diwan Arun Nanda as chairperson of Rediffusion

livemint.com:

New Delhi: Diwan Arun Nanda has stepped down from the chairmanship of Rediffusion after 50 years of being at the helm. Nanda, who has stepped down due to his age and health, will be replaced by Sandeep Goyal. Goyal, who will also continue in his role as the managing director, has worked directly under Nanda for years.

Nanda was the first gold medallist of the first batch of IIM-A in 1966. He was also in the first batch of management trainees recruited by Hindustan Lever. He is credited to be the brain behind the ‘lightning strikes’ mnemonic of Rin detergent of which he was brand manager at Lever.

Nanda then moved onto MCM, a creative shop, moving on in 1973 to set up Rediffusion. A two-time AAAI president and recipient of the lifetime achievement award in the early 2000s, he has served on the boards of Air India, Eveready, Kingfisher Airlines, Yes Bank and others. From 1983 to 1991, Nanda was advisor to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

He was also chairman of Dentsu Young & Rubicam, the Asian joint venture of the two advertising companies. During his 50-year tenure, the agency launched several brands, and created campaigns that became famous, part of the language and the culture of the people’. “These 50 years have been a dream run.

I enjoyed every moment of client interactions, the strategy sessions, the creation of the campaigns and the launching of the brands, he said. Goyal has an MBA and PhD from FMS Delhi and is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He has written books on business, marketing and advertising.