MUMBAI: Former Bates regional planning director Dheeraj Sinha, who quit the agency in May this year, has joined WPP‘s Grey India as consultant and will head planning for South and South East Asia.

In a statement to the press, Grey India president and CEO Jishnu Sen said, "I have been looking for a planning partner, someone to lead the strategic thinking of our team for a few months now. I have been a huge fan of Dheeraj‘s for a while. His reputation precedes him. His work, his awards, his publishings are all testimony to his prowess. So when Dheeraj started his consultancy, we became his client. And the chemistry is fabulous. So I can confirm that Grey has taken him on as a consultant and we look forward to this exciting partnership".

Sinha said, "I feel a great sense of energy and determination about the people at Grey. In all my interactions with Jishnu, Amit and Malvika, it looked that we can play as a team to create some magical work. The focus on creating sparkling work comes from the regional and global leadership which is critical for success. So when they proposed a longer term role, it felt like the right thing to do".

In a career spanning nearly 12 years, Sinha has worked with agencies like McCann Erickson and EURO RSCG in India and has worked on the brand strategy for several multinational and Indian brands, including Fiat, Virgin Mobile, MasterCard, LG, Reckitt Benckiser, TVS Motorcycles, Max Bupa, Marico, Dabur, and Cavin Kare.

He started his career in 2000 with McCann Erickson as associate planning director and then moved to Bates in 2005 where he served as regional planning director till May 2012.

He also launched his first book, ‘Consumer India: Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet‘ last year and authored a chapter ‘Bridging Gaps - Retail in the Emerging Indian Market‘ in a book titled Shopper Marketing.