Published on: May 29, 2026
Godrej Consumer Products Limited’s (GCPL) in-house creative agency, Lightbox, has promoted Shalini Avadhani and Gaurav Kumar to the role of Chief Creative Officer.
Adtech Today reached out to the duo, who confirmed the development and shared their perspectives on the elevation.
Avadhani and Kumar were previously Lead Creative Strategists at Lightbox and were instrumental in setting up the agency in April 2023. Since then, the two have built one of India’s most closely watched in-house creative setups, a lean team of eight producing 45 films a year across four geographies for brands including Cinthol, Goodknight, and Godrej No.1.
Together, they’ve steered Lightbox with a clear creative philosophy, one that the elevation now makes official. “It means we now own the philosophy, not just practice it,” say Avadhani and Kumar.
“And the philosophy is simple: there’s a difference between work that makes brands famous and work that makes creatives famous. One builds brands. The other builds careers. But there’s a narrow strip where both can exist simultaneously. That’s where the magic lives. And that’s where we’ve dropped Lightbox’s location pin.”
The elevation comes at a moment when Lightbox and the broader question of what in-house agencies can genuinely deliver are very much in the industry conversation. Avadhani and Kumar are clear-eyed about what the next chapter demands.
“We’re being watched because in-housing is having a moment globally,” they say.
“The question everyone’s asking is whether the model can produce genuinely great creative work and not just efficient work. It’s the right question, and honestly, it’s a great challenge to have. The next phase for Lightbox is about creative authority, a body of work with a recognisable sensibility, a point of view, built from the inside out.”
Both Avadhani and Kumar bring 18 years of industry experience each. Avadhani’s career spans McCann Worldgroup, Lowe Lintas, and Spring Marketing Capital, while Kumar has worked with Leo Burnett, Ogilvy India, and McCann Worldgroup.
GCPL has also expanded Ashwin Moorthy’s responsibilities to include media, influencer marketing, and the in-house agency, alongside his existing role. Nithya Ravi takes on the role of Head of Global Media.
The appointments follow Swati Bhattacharya’s exit from Lightbox in January 2026.
