Madison BMB changes: Prabha Prabhu retires; Raj Nair elevated to CEO & CCO

Prabha Prabhu, Founder Member, Madison, who moved with Sam Balsara when he started Madison way back in 1988, has decided to retire after 28 years at Madison. She was CEO of Madison BMB for the last several years. Raj Nair, the current Chief Creative Officer, will now also assume additional responsibility of CEO. Kim Solomon will be a new addition to the team, who joins as Chief Operating Officer. All these changes are effective April 1, 2016.

Describing Prabhu as the youngest and most energetic lady in advertising, Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World, said, “Whilst I am sorry that I will not have the benefit of Prabha’s wisdom and expertise, I would like to wish her a cheerful, relaxed and fulfilling retired life.” At the farewell function Balsara thanked Prabhu for her loyalty, commitment and dedication to Madison and its clients over the last 28 years. She had played a critical role in the formative years of Madison, working on brands like Cinthol, Vicks, Whisper, BlueStar and She Comfort and more recently with Asian Paints, VVF, Hyper City and Angel Broking, among others.

Commenting on Raj Nair’s elevation to the position of CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Balsara said, “Raj has proved over the last few years that whilst maintaining his creative focus, he can look at the larger business picture from the client’s perspective and I am sure this move will help make Madison BMB a more result oriented agency.”

On Solomon’s appointment, Balsara said, “Kim is a true blue advertising professional with over 20 years experience at Ogilvy, Mudra, Dentsu, Triton and Everest Advertising and has handled many blue chip clients over the years. I am sure his experience and expertise will add tremendous value to our current and future clients.”

Speaking on her stint with Madison, Prabha Prabhu said, “Madison has been my home for the last 28 years and has been an intrinsic part of me. Whilst I was happy doing effective campaigns for our clients, I was very keen to also win awards. And in the last four years we have won several awards. After a rewarding and satisfying career, I now look forward to spending more time doing social work, giving back to society and spending time with my children who are both in advertising and settled in the US.”

Raj Nair added here, “I cannot imagine life at Madison without Prabha. These are extremely large shoes to fill and we will do our very best to keep the flag flying vigorously. And of course, I am looking forward to this new role and partnering our clients to help them continue to achieve their business goals through insightful advertising.”

On joining the agency, Kim Solomon said, “Madison BMB has a great set of clients and Madison World is a wonderful and highly reputed organisation that I look forward to contribute to in ample measure.”

Madison BMB has just won a couple of prestigious accounts like Angel Broking and Asian Paints’ Bath Business. Madison BMB is the advertising unit of Madison World, a diversified communication group with 26 units across 11 specialised functions of Advertising, Media, Business Analytics, Out-of-Home, Events, Activations, Retail, PR, Entertainment, Mobile and Sports; employing over 1,000 communication professionals across cities in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.