Praveen Kenneth announces retirement from L&K | Saatchi & Saatchi

Praveen Kenneth, Founder/ Chairman of Law & Kenneth, which became a part of Publicis Groupe in January 2014 to create L&K | Saatchi & Saatchi, has announced his retirement from active engagement on the sidelines of the final sale of his shareholding, in Paris. 

He will be involved over the next 6 months during the transition, mentoring and guiding the teams. 

Anil Nair, CEO/ Managing Partner who has been groomed over the past 24 months and running the operations, will now be leading the company forward. 

Commenting on this from Paris, Maurice Levy, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Publicis Groupe, said, “Praveen has been with us slightly after opening Publicis in India (1999) and had led the agency to growth and creative excellence. He then decided to launch Law & Kenneth (2002), which also has been a great success. Praveen is a leader, a real ad man, always led by the interest of the clients. I developed a great personal relationship with Praveen and wish him the very best.” 

Continuing further, he said, “The acquisition of his agency and the merger with Saatchi and Saatchi (in 2014) has allowed building a superb agency we are all proud of.” 

Commenting on his retirement from Paris, Kenneth said, “The incredible success story of Law & Kenneth and L&K | Saatchi & Saatchi has been nothing less than a magical testimony of ‘making the Impossible, possible’. We ended up doing everything we set out to do over the last 15 years. And none of that would have been possible without our clients who love us, believe in us and have supported us. And our people. Building from zero to 4 offices, 400-plus amazing people and being in the top 10.” 

He further said, “Partnership with Maurice Levy, which is so special, who has been my biggest supporter and Publicis Groupe. Winning at Cannes, D&AD, epic pitch wins and First Class clients. It’s been a dream run. I am sure this will continue in the safe hands of the Publicis Groupe family – Anil Nair, our CEO, and the leadership team. It is all set to move to even greater heights.” 

Talking about the future, Kenneth added, “When I began my journey 27 years ago, I let life take charge of everything I do. And life has been very kind to me. I have asked and gotten everything and a hundred times more from life. The future is a great opportunity to give back whatever I have been blessed with. And I am looking forward to that, and hope it allows me to give it back, every bit.” 

L&K | Saatchi & Saatchi’s client roster includes, Renault India, HeroMotoCorp, Kent RO, P&G, Dabur, Pepper Fry, Jockey, Mondelez, Godrej Interio, and Exide Insurance, to name a few. It won 2 silvers at Cannes in 2016, and won a Gold in 2017. 

The agency has been instrumental in establishing leadership position for Renault India, launching HeroMotoCorp, after the breakaway of Hero Honda; as well as creating iconic work for Pepper Fry, Jockey, and Kent RO.