Srivastava is Ogilvy Malaysia’s former chief strategy officer. He fills a gap left by Mark Sinnock, who returned to the UK last year to take up a role at M&C Saatchi.
David Mayo, Bates CHI&Partners’ chief executive, called Srivastava “one of the best planning practitioners in the business”. A former colleague of Srivastava’s, Ogilvy Malaysia chief creative officer Gavin Simpson, said Srivastava had a talent for “getting the best brief out of a client”.
“He is one of the rare few planners I have truly enjoyed working with and respected," Simpson added. "I will definitely miss our partnership but I know he will shine at Bates CHI&Partners.”
Srivastava and Mayo have worked together in the past at Ogilvy. “Using a shared vision as our base, we have a very optimistic view of our future agency,” Srivastava said.
Srivastava helped win Ogilvy Malaysia’s first award at the Festival of Asian Marketing Effectiveness among other accolades. He has extensive experience working with Coca-Cola and contributed to Ogilvy’s global win of Sprite. He has also served as Ogilvy’s regional planning director for Nestlé greater China. He is credited with having produced India’s first branded travelogue—for Toyota.
New business for Bates CHI&Partners in 2013 included Asus, InterContinental and Prudential.