Sam Ahmed quits Rediffusion Y&R

Sam Ahmed’s first stint in the Indian advertising industry has ended just eight months after coming on board as vice-chairman and chief creative officer at Rediffusion-Y&R. He has decided to move on from the agency.

Official sources have confirmed this development to Adgully. "Yes, it's been confirmed that Sam Ahmed,Vice - Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Rediffusion- Y & R, has decided to quit Rediffusion," the source said.

Adding further sources clarified saying, "Though he has  decided to quit the job, he'll be part of the agency till December 2013, and post completing his tenure he has decided to do film making and direction, which he always loves to do."

Ahmed intends to stay on in Mumbai and continue working on his film which has always been his first preference.
It was soon after N Padmakumar the agency's former national creative director, and D Rajappa the agency's former president, resigned from their respective roles at the agency that Ahmed joined Rediffusion in January 2013  to head both the creative and business fronts. Prior to this he was stationed at Y&R Dubai .

  Diwan Arun Nanda, chairman and managing director, Rediffusion, was full of praise for Ahmed when he joined the agency in January. He said, "We searched the globe for such creative talent. It is good to have a person of Sam's credentials lead the creative team at Rediffusion."

In year 2007 he started his own studio-cum-production house, Studio Central. It was through a venture called Rockstar Entertainment that Ahmed was involved in the creation of filmed entertainment, TV commercials and music videos.

Ahmed, has been associated with the advertising and communications industry since the age of 21. He was creative director at Y&R Dubai, an agency for a period of 14 years (1992-2006). He was later promoted as partner and regional executive creative director of Y&R brands for the region and it was in 2009, that he founded the Creative Club of Dubai. During his stint at Dubai he has also been a consultant to the Prime Minister and Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed's executive office and worked on several projects including the Burj Khalifa.

During his career he has worked with Brands which include Ford, Nestle, Pepsi, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive, Citibank, Harvey Nichols, Skoda, Land Rover, Jaguar, Sony Ericsson, Du Telecom, Zain Telecom, HTC, Apple and World Gold Council. To Ahmed goes the credit for his work on Tata Nano, a Rediffusion account which repositioned the car from its original ‘affordable car’ stance.