Ulka, part of BBDO Group India, has appointed Sai Karthik as Senior Vice President & Head of Strategy, South
CE DESK 
Ulka, part of BBDO Group India, has appointed Sai Karthik as Senior Vice President & Head of Strategy, South, tasking him with sharpening creative effectiveness and scaling business across key regional accounts in Bengaluru and Chennai. Karthik will report to Saad Khan, Chief Strategy Officer at Ulka, in a move that signals the agency’s serious push into the booming new-economy scene in the South.
Karthik brings more than 15 years of experience across network and independent agencies, spanning brand strategy, creative effectiveness and new business. He joins Ulka from Talented, where he worked on high-profile campaigns including Urban Company’s “Dignity of Labour”, The Hindu’s “Written by Journalists” and Zee5’s “Apni Bhasha, Apni Kahaniyan”.
Prior to Talented, Karthik was Senior Strategy Planning Director at 82.5 Communications, handling brands such as Himalaya, Costa Coffee and Unibic. His earlier career includes stints at McCann, Dentsu, M&C Saatchi and JWT, giving him a genuinely agency-hopping CV across global and Indian networks. Over the years, he has worked with a wide portfolio including Britannia, Cars24, Cashfree, Cipla, HUL, Marriott, Razorpay, Urban Company, Zee5, Udaan, TVS, Xiaomi, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Honda, Canon, Dulux, Amazon, Nilon’s, GRT Jewellers and The Hindu Group.
Beyond his day job, Karthik founded The Hidden Slide, a community for strategists and researchers to swap ideas and challenge assumptions, a useful signal of the intellectual restlessness Ulka is buying into. At Ulka, he will focus on leading strategic initiatives across the southern region, strengthening brand strategy, planning and creative leadership for a diverse set of clients.
