ITV

Category: People

  • Greaves Cotton announces key hires; appoints Dr Arup Basu as deputy managing director

    Greaves Cotton announces key hires; appoints Dr Arup Basu as deputy managing director

    Mumbai: Greaves Cotton on Tuesday announced the appointment of Dr Arup Basu as deputy managing director of Greaves Cotton Ltd and Sanjay Behl as CEO and executive director of Greaves Electric Mobility (GEMPL). The strengthening of leadership comes on the heels of highest-ever consolidated quarterly revenue of Rs 621 crore reported for the quarter ending 31 March, the engineering company said in a statement.

    With this announcement, the Greaves group leadership will move to a simpler and more focused structure, in line with the reorganisation of business carried out in 2021 to facilitate sustained growth, and led by Dr Arup Basu and Sanjay Behl. Both the leaders will report to MD and group CEO Nagesh Basavanhalli.

    In his role, Dr Basu will lead the development and execution of long-term strategies of GCL and will oversee implementation of overall corporate purpose and vision of GCL across engines and retail business. He brings over 30 years of experience in running manufacturing intensive businesses such as packaging (MD at Huhtamaki PPL) chemicals (president and CTO at Tata Chemicals), and automotive (Tata Motors).

    GEMPL, comprising e-scooters, e-rickshaw and e-auto segments, is one of the fastest growing businesses within the group accounting for 38 per cent of the overall revenue for the quarter ended 31 March, representing an annual YoY revenue growth of 251 per cent, according to the company.

    As CEO and executive director of GEMPL, Behl will focus on leading the accelerated growth of the electric mobility business. He comes with a rich experience in leading consumer facing businesses such as textiles (CEO of Raymond Ltd), broadcasting (CEO of Reliance Big TV) and technology (co-founder/CEO of Nextqore Inc).

    Commenting on the leadership appointments, Nagesh Basavanhalli said, “I am delighted to welcome Dr Arup Basu and Sanjay Behl into the leadership team of the Greaves Cotton group. Their immense experience in transforming and growing Indian businesses at global scale will help us accelerate our growth. Their leadership skills in building future facing organisations will help steer growth in their respective areas.”

  • Carat India appoints Vasim Rakhangi as AVP – strategy

    Carat India appoints Vasim Rakhangi as AVP – strategy

    Mumbai: Further strengthening its leadership team, Carat India – the media agency from the house of dentsu India – has appointed Vasim Rakhangi as associate vice president – strategy for North and East. He will report into Carat India CEO Anita Kotwani.

    In his new role, Rakhangi’s core focus will be to spearhead and deliver integrated media strategy to the agency’s existing clients across the regions. 

    Rakhangi has over 11 years of experience in media and research, having led multiple brands on integrated media strategies that focus on both traditional as well as digital media. Prior to this, he worked for conglomerates in the FMCG sector like Mondelez, GCPL, Marico as well as broadcasting brands including Star Plus and Star Sports.

    With this appointment, Carat continues to accelerate its transformation of the agency across India, as it looks to bring new focus on its designing for people proposition.

    This is the fourth key strategic leadership hire for the agency in recent months, bringing a fresh perspective, increased impetus, and expertise to deliver on well-known brands in the Indian market, according to the agency.

    Commenting on the appointment, Anita Kotwani said, “With his extensive experience and passion, Vasim will help our clients stay ahead of the curve, especially as he helps them demystify the complex digital media landscape. One of his focus areas will be, to translate the disruption of video and the future of measurement to the consumers’ dynamically changing needs and, how the role of data, privacy, and technology impact their business.”

    “Vasim’s remit in our North market will encompass Phillips Domestic Appliances, Microsoft, Mastercard, Havells, and the DS Group amongst others, as he also works with our local teams to drive growth for both North and East markets,” she further said.

    Vasim Rakhangi commented, “With the kind of transformation taking place within the media landscape in India, Carat’s framework seamlessly blends in with the rapidly changing environment. It has always focused on building deeper relationships between people and brands in order to design campaigns which truly resonate with people and drive impactful results for clients. It is indeed a privilege to work with Anita and lead regions with so many great opportunities to bring this to life in partnership with such powerful brands.”

  • Wunderman Thompson Mumbai appoints Anurag Tandon as managing partner

    Wunderman Thompson Mumbai appoints Anurag Tandon as managing partner

    MUMBAI: Wunderman Thompson India has appointed Anurag Tandon as its managing partner to lead its Mumbai operations, effective 16 May.

    In his new role, Tandon will focus on growing the client base in Mumbai and closely work with teams on providing business solutions for brands by leveraging the agency’s capabilities of creative, technology, strategic consultancy, commerce and data-driven experience and design.

    Tandon joins Wunderman Thompson from DDB Mudra where he served as managing partner heading the Mumbai and Ahmedabad operations focused on driving top line growth and delivering profitability. He was also global brand director for Unilever’s Ice Cream business – responsible for developing integrated brand strategies and communication plans in markets across SEA, NAMET and LATAM.

    He has over 20 years of experience in building and nurturing brands across varied industries like automobiles, consumer goods, fashion, retail and financial services.

    “Mumbai is one of our strongest offices and with our focus on being the strategic partner for our clients across the brand and consumer experience ecosystem, we are delighted to onboard Anurag at this critical juncture to augment growth for our clients and teams,” said Wunderman Thompson South Asia CEO Shams Jasani. “With his strong track record of achieving business targets and vast experience across diverse categories and brands, we are convinced that he will be able to accelerate the momentum we have and achieve great success.”

    Commenting on his new role, Anurag Tandon said, “The constant evolution of consumer journeys poses a constant challenge for clients. There is a need for integration of services and providing experiences around the brand which Wunderman Thompson is uniquely poised to deliver. With WT’s traditional strength of long term client partnerships, I’m excited about the next leg of the agency journey, by embracing the need to look at brands much more holistically and building on the strong fundamentals that WT has always stood for.”

     

  • Weekend Unwind with: Deep Mehta, co-founder of DigiChefs

    Weekend Unwind with: Deep Mehta, co-founder of DigiChefs

    Mumbai: With the weekend upon us, IndianTelevision.com rolls over to the next in its series of informal, fun snippets that peek into the mind of corporate executives – akin to a virtual water cooler chat. An attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better, by having them share their nuggets on life and their mantras to deal with the curveballs that life throws – not necessarily revolving around work life – and sometimes going beyond work.

    This week, we have on the hot seat the co-founder of DigiChefs- an independent creative agency based out of Mumbai. Deep Mehta calls himself a passion-driven entrepreneur who “helps startups scale their topline”. Having started the agency with his co-founder Marmik Ajmera in the later part of 2015, they have grown almost organically to a team size of 65 people in these six plus years and worked with over 300 clients.

    Here it goes:

    -Your mantra for Life
    There are three actually:
    You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take
    Use your “fear of failure” to do incredible things in life
    Be kinder than is necessary

    -A book you are currently reading/plan to read
    The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.

    -Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
    Cycle your way to a fitter you.

    -Your comfort food
    Chaat!

    -When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
    You didn’t come this far to only come this far.

    -Your guilty pleasure
    Binge-watching movies & shows.

    -When was the last time you tried something new?
    I started playing table tennis (using a coach) last week. That’s going great, enjoying every bit of it.

    -A life lesson you learnt the hard way
    Never let success make you complacent. Always be on the lookout for potential falls and work towards minimising them. Learned this the hard way when we were so confident (a tad bit overconfident) of our sales skills, that we stopped sales once our bandwidths were exhausted for a good two months. This, instead of constantly nurturing leads in those months so that we could onboard projects once we do hire talent or complete older projects.

    -What gets you excited about life?
    The very fact is that you can make mistakes, and it’s completely okay, and, the sooner you fail, the faster you learn! You can only get better. This very thought gives me the confidence to keep taking bolder decisions and pick up more challenging work than we did yesterday.

    -What’s on top of your bucket list?
    Doing a Ski course in Gulmarg this coming winter.

    -If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
    When in doubt, ask for help without hesitating too much. There are some genuinely good people out there waiting to help!

    -One thing you would most like to change about the world
    One: End civil wars/ fights and 
    Two: Make people kinder towards the animals around us

    -An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
    Gardening! I have 76 plants at my home, and I take care of each of them.

    -What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
    Talking to my best friend (and now my wife) Poonam.

    -Your go-to stress buster
    Listening to some lo-fi music.

  • Titus Upputuru and Ayesha Ghosh exit Taproot dentsu

    Titus Upputuru and Ayesha Ghosh exit Taproot dentsu

    Mumbai: Taproot dentsu’s national creative director Titus Upputuru and chief executive officer Ayesha Ghosh have moved on from the agency. The development was confirmed by dentsu Creative India CEO Amit Wadhwa in a statement to IndianTelevision.com.

    “Both Ayesha and Titus are great talents, and I am thankful to them for all their contributions at dentsu, ” said Amit Wadhwa. “As we gear up for our next phase of growth and continue to pursue our global ambitions into becoming the most integrated agency of the world, we will keep transitioning more and more of our strong & young powerhouses into our leaders of tomorrow.”

    “We will also continue to add some exceptionally new talents who will embark with us on this fresh & exciting journey,” he further added.

    At Taproot, Ghosh was elevated as CEO in June 2021 and was responsible for both Mumbai and Gurgaon offices. Previously, she headed the agency’s Mumbai office. Ghosh joined Taproot Dentsu in December 2015.

    Titus Upputuru was promoted to the role of NCD at Taproot Dentsu Gurgaon in March this year and was leading the agency’s Gurgaon creative team. Titus had also been entrusted with the additional charge of leading integrated solutions for dentsu Creative India. Before that, he was the creative head at the agency, having joined the agency in April 2011.

  • Abhishek Grover joins L’oreal as Chief Digital Officer-consumer products

    Abhishek Grover joins L’oreal as Chief Digital Officer-consumer products

    L’oreal has appointed Abhishek Grover as the chief digital officer-consumer products, according to his Linkedin profile post.

    He will oversee the operations of the south-east Asia pacific, middle-east and North African regions. Earlier, he was heading the digital marketing portfolio at Samsung for the south-east Asia and Oceania (SEAO) region where he was leading the digital marketing strategies and implementing the best practices.

    Grover said via his post on LinkedIn recently while announcing his exit from Samsung, “As a digital marketing group in SEAO, we have come a long way! It gives me a great sense of pride that we built a strong and highly capable team that is leading Samsung’s global digital transformation agenda.”

    “Whether it was setting up digital shared service operations or building industry first attribution models, it was the innovative and courageous thinking of the team that helped us leap forward,” he added.

  • Publicis In-Motion appoints Shonali Sharma as head of Arc Worldwide’s Delhi office

    Publicis In-Motion appoints Shonali Sharma as head of Arc Worldwide’s Delhi office

    Mumbai: Publicis In-Motion on Monday announced the appointment of Shonali Sharma as head of Arc Worldwide’s Delhi office.

    “Shonali will head an adept team of experts and focus on making Arc Worldwide a preferred partner for brands looking to ace their customer connect across channels and platforms,” said the statement. Shonali will closely work with the India leadership team of Arc worldwide helmed by Pravin Vadhera.

    Shonali brings with her eighteen years of experience in experiential marketing, brand development, sports marketing, integrated marketing and communication. In the past, she has worked with agencies like Candid Marketing Services, Ogilvy Action, Cheil Communications, along with managing the PGAI Tour and launching Delhi Daredevils at the IPL. She has worked across a range of brands from telecom (Idea, Vodafone, Motorola), FMCG (Pepsi, Cadbury’s, Revlon, Samsung) and media (National Geographic, Discovery Networks) to technology (Microsoft, Lenovo) and pharma (Novartis) amongst others. Her work has earned her numerous awards.

    “In 2022, Publicis In-Motion is looking at scaling up in a big way,” said Publicis In-Motion head Praveen Vadhera. “I am thrilled to have Shonali on board. She brings with her expansive experience and keen insight into future trends. I am excited about the value we can create for our clients with her expertise.”

    “I am excited to be a part of Arc’s continued success in India,” said Shonali Sharma. “Parveen has always been a great visionary and the team in India has an eclectic mix in terms of skill sets and an attractive client portfolio across our group companies. I want to leverage my expertise and creativity to complement these skills and help clients further unlock their potential through innovative and effective experiential marketing strategies.”

    A part of Publicis Groupe India, Publicis In-Motion is a specialist entity focused on building brands by creating experiences and engagement with consumers while they are on the move. It has a team of 150 professionals and its expertise lies in crafting ideas that move people to like, share, participate, advocate and explore brands, thereby moving them to purchase.

    Arc Worldwide specialises in brand activation, experiential engagement and shopper marketing. In India, Arc has been the partner of choice for leading brands like Diageo, Acko, Airtel, Isuzu, and HP to name a few. Most recently the team executed the launch of Airtel’s 5G experience with the recreation of in-stadia experience of Kapil Dev’s legendary 175 run innings from the 1983 Cricket World Cup with India’s first live 5G powered hologram.

    Shonali is deeply passionate about the impact of art on society’s culture and has launched a label called ‘Breathe’ – a unique initiative to make art more accessible in everyday life thereby supporting local artists. ‘Breathe’ brings together works of various artists in the form of soulful, ethical merchandise – apparel, stationery and home décor.

  • Clevertap brings in Honey Bajaj as SVP and global chief of consumer experience

    Clevertap brings in Honey Bajaj as SVP and global chief of consumer experience

    Mumbai: Clevertap has brought Honey Bajaj on board as senior vice president (SVP) and global chief of consumer experience. Bajaj is a design strategist, an innovation leader and a social entrepreneur with extensive work in India and the US.

    Before joining Clevertap, Honey built an innovation pipeline for several Fortune 500 companies, including Boston Consulting Group Digital Ventures, Disney, Microsoft Research, MIT Media Lab and Tata Group. At Tata Group, she developed detailed market segmentation frameworks based on purchase behaviour to orchestrate product launches and go-to-market strategies.

    She is also a dual degree holder with a master’s degree in engineering and management and a master’s in sustainability studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is currently pursuing her PhD in design and innovation methodologies in the digital world.

    “As we scale Clevertap into a global category creator for ‘retention cloud,’ we realise that our customers are eager to co-create experiences that will fuel growth and the future of their own digital businesses,” Clevertap chief growth officer Vikrant Chowdhary. “For this reason, we are expanding our leadership team with a new appointment that benefits the most important stakeholder: our customers’ customers.”

    He further added, “From fintech to ecommerce, and from on-demand super apps to media and streaming services, companies need the inspiration and tangible examples of the ‘art of possible’ to unleash human-centered design thinking, unlock new perspectives and drive powerful momentum and positive results for all stakeholders. “This outcome is inextricably linked with our customers’ abilities to realise and hyper-personalise omnichannel journeys for their customers.”

    “I have always focused on designing for impact and inventing for scale by contextualising tech for the consumers,” said Honey Bajaj. “The truth is, no matter what we think we’re doing, we are all in the customer-experience business. Before you can accomplish it, you need to envision it. The digital behaviour and expectations of customers is evolving faster than most industries are able to deliver. I am looking forward to my journey with Clevertap to embed human-centered principles and design thinking into a series of initiatives and programs,”

    She added, “These efforts will allow digital-first companies to co-create and simulate digital journeys that will fuel growth through superior customer experience and will enable Clevertap’s customers to realise their consumer journeys in a more seamless and contextual manner as the lines of the digital and omnichannel world are no longer separated.”

  • Mercer | Mettl appoints Vineet Singh as CMO to lead its global expansion

    Mercer | Mettl appoints Vineet Singh as CMO to lead its global expansion

    Mumbai: Mercer|Mettl, the global leader in talent acquisition and skill assessment has appointed Vineet Singh as chief marketing officer (CMO) to lead its marketing and customer engagement functions, along with strengthening its global footprint.

    In this role, Vineet intends to deliver innovative marketing process automation and omnichannel digital marketing strategies for the product-led-growth. He will work closely with sales, products, and operations to achieve marketing growth objectives.

    Vineet comes with two decades of global experience in building highly functional marketing teams. He has led teams of more than 450+ across geographies and industries such as automobile, retail, health, education, and BFSI and FMCG sectors.         

    Commenting on Vineet’s appointment, Mercer | Mettl CEO Siddhartha Gupta said, “I am delighted to welcome Vineet onboard. His high-performance record, combined with his in-depth expertise and strategic acumen, will play a vital role for us as we take our brand to the next level. I cannot think of a better fit than Vineet to lead us as we further advance our market position.”

    Prior to joining Mercer | Mettl, he was the co-founder and CMO of CopperBridge Media and Appylika. In addition, he has led renowned business teams at Ford, Whirlpool, and Hudson.

    On his appointment, Vineet Singh said, “It is rare to find a company with great people, culture, and opportunity that Mercer | Mettl currently has. I aim to provide value beyond the mandate as it allows growth not only personally, but also helps the organisation grow exponentially. I look forward to working with all internal and global stakeholders to develop a robust growth story.”

    An alumni of IIT Kharagpur and Cornell University, Vineet is an aspiring chef, wildlife hiker, and bike enthusiast.

  • Shayondeep Pal to head creative at Lowe Lintas Bangalore

    Shayondeep Pal to head creative at Lowe Lintas Bangalore

    Mumbai: Lowe Lintas has announced the appointment of Shayondeep Pal as a regional creative officer. Pal will work out of the agency’s Bangalore office and manage some of the flagship brands of the agency from the South region. The appointment is effective immediately, the agency said in a statement.

    Most recently, he led the creative campaigns for Surf Excel, Wheel, Vim, UltraTech and Nestle EveryDay. In his new role, Pal will strengthen the creative output of the agency’s Bangalore office working on brands like Tanishq, Swiggy, Unacademy and Fastrack, among others.

    In this role, Pal will report to Lowe Lintas CCO Sagar Kapoor.

     Commenting on Pal’s new role in the agency, Sagar Kapoor said, “Shayondeep (Shayon, as we fondly refer to him) has led the Lowe Delhi office in the past. He has worked on a diverse mix of brands across categories. Both his wisdom and creative talent will definitely take Lowe Lintas South to newer heights. I am excited about our partnership and along with him and the teams, hope to create some stunning work very soon.”

    Pal’s advertising career began about 24 years ago with a chance stint as a trainee writer at McCann-Erickson, having trained as a journalist after a post-graduate course at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. In his first stint with Lowe Lintas between 2008 and 2015, he worked on brands such as Micromax, OLX, Hindustan Times, Havells and Maruti-Suzuki. Under his watch, Lowe Lintas has won numerous awards including the coveted Cannes and Effies, among others. Previously, he has also worked with Grey Group on brands like Halonix, Dominos and Greenlam and with Network Advertising as its CCO. He had also founded Amorphous Films where he worked on brands like Quikr, Havells, Gionee and Aegon Life.

    Talking about his new role, Pal said, “I am looking forward to an exciting phase in my advertising career. I am thrilled to be part of the team that created stellar work on some of the most iconic brands.”