Manish Bhatt to leave Contract Advertising in India

Bhatt will remain at Contract until the end of November.

Earlier this year he directed the Jityu Hamesha Gujarat anthem campaign for Tata Indicom. The project was a composition of music and cinematography to celebrate the culture and spirit of Gujarat. The success of the project resulted in Bhatt being asked to mastermind the 50th anniversary of Gujarat in May 2010, which he will do after his role at Contract comes to an end.

After leaving Contract, Bhatt will travel around Gujarat to prepare for the campaign. “It is the biggest opportunity to create something meaningful for my motherland,” he said.

Although Bhatt is still unsure about his subsequent career plans, he has been offered several national creative director roles in the industry, and opportunities to start his own agency in India. He said he would not rule out teaming up with Raghu, his creative partner for 10 years at Contract.

Bhatt is known as one of India's most high-profile advertising executives and has worked at agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather in India and Malaysia, Ambience Publicis and McCann Erickson. His portfolio has included international and local brands like Johnson & Johnson, Cadbury, HSBC, L’Oreal, Wonderbra, and Aegon Religare. He joined Contract Advertising in 1995.

Bhatt started off his career as a site engineer at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation. “I soon got bored with machines, boilers and chimneys and decided to enter the world of advertising,” he explained.