Former Contract India chairman Ravi Deshpande launches communications agency Whyness Worldwide

Ravi Deshpande, former chairman and chief creative officer of Contract India, has launched an integrated communication agency called Whyness Worldwide.

"We are an integrated communications agency for the new world. In a sense, it is an agency that bridges the gap between traditional agencies and digital agencies," Deshpande said about his new venture.

Whyness has already partnered with two overseas clients - Boston-based Big Data firm Findability Sciences and Paris-based branding and design firm Seenk, for the service. With these partnerships, the agency aims to address brand challenges with solutions that combine human insights, creativity, design and technology, and bridge the gap between traditional and digital agencies.

"With Findability Sciences, we will use their expertise of turning Big Data into smart data. Our alliance with Seenk will add more value to our thinking in design," he said. He added that this process will help Whyness' clients understand their customers better, help them produce accurate strategies and also help them analyse their own performance.

Deshpande has close to three decades of industry experience. He had two stints at Contract India, a leading integrated ad agency in India. He was the key architect in building the firm and its brands including Shoppers Stop, Cadbury and NIIT. During his 28-year long career, he also started two companies—Lemon and Havas Worldwide. In the past, he had worked with Clarion (now Bates Chi & Partners) and O&M.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)