J. Walter Thompson elevates Carlton D'Silva as CEO South Asia

J. Walter Thompson South Asia named Carlton D’Silva as the new Chief Executive Officer, Hungama Digital Services, India’s leading digital services agency effective immediately. Carlton will be reporting into Tarun Rai and will continue to lead HDS’s creative leadership as its Chief Creative Officer.

In his new role, Carlton will be responsible for leading the growth at HDS and further enhancing its creative output. He will partner Tarun to seamlessly integrate and deliver on J. Walter Thompson South Asia’s creative vision to offer the best value proposition to its clients. Carlton will have complete oversight of all six offices of HDS, including Hungama Promo Marketing.

Announcing his elevation, Tarun Rai, Chief Executive Officer, J. Walter Thompson South Asia said, “Carlton is a dynamic, creative leader with strategic capabilities, which makes him an ideal choice to head HDS. He is young, ambitious and has the drive to take HDS to the next level.”

Carlton who is one of the most reputed and highly acclaimed digital professionals in the country today, has spent close to 16 years with HDS. He is imaginative and inspiring and has diverse experience of working with some of the biggest brands in the country. He has won several awards and accolades for HDS across national and international award shows.

"We are delighted to elevate Carlton as the CEO of HDS. Apart from being one of the most experienced digital advertising professionals in India, Carlton has demonstrated tremendous leadership qualities in leading a team of top performers who have won accolades for their clients and given them innovative and sustainable solutions with impactful and engaging consumer interactions. In his new role, Carlton will prepare our clients from leveraging creative digital activations and transform their communities to transactions. I wish him all the very best, always!”, said Neeraj Roy, Director on board, HDS.

Carlton joined HDS in its early days in 1999 and was instrumental in creating the brand it is today. With an agile and dynamic team of visualizers, designers, and copy writers, he has been responsible for creating award winning ideas for brands across digital media in the form of social media activations, games, mobile apps, digital innovations and other forms of digital promotions for domestic and international clients.

Speaking on his appointment as the CEO, Carlton said, “Hungama Digital Services has evolved over the years and I have been privileged to be a part of this journey. We are at a sweet spot when it comes to Digital Marketing. HDS has proved that we have always stayed ahead of the curve when it comes to new ways of communication and I do believe we will keep surprising everyone through innovations and ideas. I hope to make good on the learnings over the years, take HDS to greater heights and set the benchmark in digital communication through technology and collaboration.”

Carlton has been on the jury of Spikes Asia, Abbys and Yahoo Big Idea Chair awards. He was also part of the jury in the New York Ad festival, Adfest Asia and Cannes Lions.

J. Walter Thompson’s acquisition of Hungama Digital Services in 2012 positioned it as a digital thought-leader with delivery capabilities in digital ideation, production, and social media.

Over the last decade, HDS has created and executed many award winning campaigns in the digital space. The company has created innovative marketing solutions for over 350 brands including Pepsi, Tata Sky, Mitsubishi Motors, Tiger Beer, Mahindra, Nokia, MasterCard, ICICI Bank, Axe, Nike, Bacardi and Cadbury’s to name a few.