ITV

Category: People

  • Arvind Srivastava promoted to chief strategy officer of Ogilvy Asia

    Arvind Srivastava promoted to chief strategy officer of Ogilvy Asia

    Mumbai: Ogilvy has promoted Arvind Srivastava to the position of chief strategy officer of Ogilvy Asia. He succeeds Benoit Wiesser, who will be relocating to Europe.

    Srivastava started his career as a CRM planner at OgilvyOne Delhi and has spent nearly 18 years with Ogilvy Asia in various strategic planning roles across the markets. He is currently serving as chief strategy officer, Ogilvy China. “Srivastava will continue to work from Shanghai where he has been since 2016,” said the company.

    “Arvind has done an outstanding job for Ogilvy Asia for nearly 20 years in various strategy roles across several Asian markets,” said co-chief executive Asia and chief executive Greater China Chris Reitermann. “He has a deep understanding of the evolving strategy needs of our Clients and brings a great mix of business, brand and digital strategy to our offer. We very much look forward to partnering with him in building on the strong foundation set by Benoit and I’m personally excited to have a strong strategy partner continuing to be based out of China.”

    Srivastava previously led and anchored Ogilvy China’s strategy for global clients such as Nestlé and The Coca-Cola Company and played a key role on large Chinese brands, including AliExpress.

    “Ogilvy has one of the strongest and the most effective strategy teams in Asia, and I feel truly honored to be given this responsibility,” said Srivastava on his new role.“I am excited at the opportunity to partner with our strategy and business leaders to continue evolving and modernising Ogilvy Asia’s strategic solutions to drive growth and impact for our clients at the intersection of capabilities.”

  • ICICI Lombard names Sheena Kapoor as marketing, corporate communications & CSR head

    ICICI Lombard names Sheena Kapoor as marketing, corporate communications & CSR head

    Mumbai: Private general insurance company ICICI Lombard has named Sheena Kapoor as its new head – marketing, corporate communications and CSR.  

    In this role, Kapoor will focus on developing and strengthening corporate advertising and branding, customer-oriented awareness strategies, across all company product lines and geographies, said the company in a statement. “She will spearhead the company’s innovative efforts with an enterprise-wide focus, thereby aiding in scaling the company’s overall brand positioning among other players,” it added.

    “We are delighted to welcome Sheena into the ICICI Lombard family,” said ICICI Lombard General Insurance head of human resources Jerry Jose. “Her experience will be instrumental in combining customer insights, analytics and innovation to develop sharp branding and communication thereby making her the perfect fit to take the brand awareness to the next level.”

    Kapoor brings with her over two decades’ experience in the field of marketing and corporate communications. She joins ICICI Lombard from Edelweiss Financial Services where she was head of corporate marketing, leading strategy and corporate branding across the group and later heading marketing and PR for Edelweiss Wealth Management. She has also worked with Times of India Group spanning 11 years as head of innovations and earlier as head of marketing for their real estate and financial services divisions. 

    “With a wider remit than ever before, the industry needs to cultivate a deeper connection with new-age customers today,” stated Sheena Kapoor. “I am thrilled to accept this new role and look forward to being a part of a brand whose ethos serves to make insurance convenient, transparent, and easily accessible for its customers.”

  • CredAvenue onboards Abhishek Mehrotra as its CHRO

    CredAvenue onboards Abhishek Mehrotra as its CHRO

    Mumbai: Homegrown debt markets platform CredAvenue has announced the onboarding of Abhishek Mehrotra as chief human resource officer (CHRO).

    In this role, Mehrotra will be responsible for leading the company’s human resource function, thereby bolstering CredAvenue’s people culture while cultivating an innovative, growth-driven environment.

    “For us, this is a mission-critical role. Our business is all about people. Hence, we have prioritised HR as one of the most critical and core business functions since our initial days of building a people-centred, best-in-class culture,” said CredAvenue founder and CEO Gaurav Kumar. “We are passionate about creating a caring, collaborative, and shared work atmosphere that results in happier employees. While we have been cultivating a diverse, agile, transparent, and enthusiastic work culture, we need to have an HR leader with nuanced understanding and a proven track record of leading our people initiatives to the next phase.”

    “Abhishek will channelise our collective goals and individual capabilities by bringing the best global HR practices and innovations to keep CredAvenue a people-first organisation. Through his broad experience, Abhishek will guide us to create a culture where each individual will thrive. Our people are our most valuable asset,” he further said.

    Mehrotra has over two decades of experience in human resources, including establishing and improving HR and organisational structures at leading tech, start-up, and telecom companies. He has enabled employee success in high-end R&D, complex managed services, and social media domains across Western and Eastern work cultures with organisations such as IBM, Nokia, Huawei, and Bytedance. 

    In his last leadership assignment with Bytedance, he scaled the people management function at TikTok in the SEA markets while also guiding the India team through challenging times. 

    “CredAvenue is one of the rare start-ups that has followed the people-first philosophy from inception, and that was very evident in the founder’s thinking from the very first time we interacted,” commented Abhishek Mehrotra. “I am looking forward to building the people’s organisation of tomorrow and introducing unique practices in learning and development, mental wellness, diversity and inclusion, and upskilling initiatives for enhancing the overall employee experience.”

    CredAvenue plans to increase its headcount from 400 to 700 people in the coming fiscal year. It is hiring talent from various tech and management areas at all levels, including freshers, mid-level, and senior-level positions, said the statement.

  • Kiran Anthony, Mahesh Gharat step down as Ogilvy South CCOs

    Kiran Anthony, Mahesh Gharat step down as Ogilvy South CCOs

    Mumbai: Ogilvy India (South) has announced changes in its creative leadership with chief creative officers (CCOs) Kiran Anthony and Mahesh Gharat having put in their papers and deciding to move on from the agency. Gharat will be moving into a full-time direction and Anthony will continue to lead Vi in a consultant’s role while he also pursues directing, said the agency in a statement.

    The agency also announced its new creative leadership in Bengaluru, and across the South markets. Puneet Kapoor will join Ogilvy in March 2022 as Ogilvy India (South) chief creative officer, and will work with Ogilvy India’s chief creative officers and the president of Ogilvy India (South). Prior to this, Kapoor was with Lowe Bengaluru, where he was regional creative officer.

    “Kiran Anthony and Mahesh Gharat have led some of the most memorable campaigns this industry has seen. They have won critical pitches, built terrific teams, and put Ogilvy on the world stage more than once,” said Ogilvy India chief creative officers Kainaz Karmakar, Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Sukesh Nayak about the creative duo. “Having contributed a great deal to Ogilvy, they now want to go after their dream of becoming film directors. This means we still get to keep them close, just in a different role.”

    Kapoor’s advertising career spans 24 years across Lowe, Ogilvy, McCann, BBH and as a founder of Eleven Brandworks. His most celebrated recent work includes campaigns for Unacademy, Swiggy, Fastrack, Titan, Myntra, Udaan, Xiaomi, Redbus, Flipkart, Cleartrip, Britannia, ITC Foods and TVS.  

    “I salute and thank Mahesh Gharat and Kiran Anthony for their stellar contribution to Ogilvy for a very long time,” commented Ogilvy chairman global creative and executive chairman India Piyush Pandey. “It’s never easy to see your bright stars leave. However, when they step out to actualise their dreams, you can only cheerlead and wish them fulfilment in what they have chosen as their next journey and destination.” 

  • Amin Lakhani elevated as Mindshare CEO, Parthasarathy Mandayam is GroupM CSO

    Amin Lakhani elevated as Mindshare CEO, Parthasarathy Mandayam is GroupM CSO

    Mumbai: GroupM, the media investment group of WPP on Tuesday announced the appointment of Parthasarathy Mandayam (Maps) as GroupM South Asia’s chief strategy officer (CSO) and Amin Lakhani, who is elevated to the role of Mindshare South Asia’s chief executive officer (CEO), which was earlier led by Maps.

    GroupM continues to invest in its talent, creating a strong leadership pipeline for the future driving the GroupM transformation journey for clients, partners, and internal teams, said the media company in a statement. “Both Maps and Amin have also helped m/SIX, Neo India, and Neo GDS grow significantly and become significant players within the industry,” it added.

    “We have witnessed a significant consolidation of existing businesses, with deeper penetration of our new core offerings under their tutelage,” remarked GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar. “Both have been instrumental in strengthening and reinvigorating the agency as it stands today. I have the utmost confidence in their expertise and know that both Maps and Amin will continue to drive innovation and further transformations in their future roles.”

    With more than 25 years of experience in the advertising and communication industry, Maps has successfully managed multiple leadership roles in Mindshare – across data, analytics, strategy, client leadership and business unit leadership. Starting his career with Mindshare in 2009 as head of the newly created ‘business planning’ function, he went on to lead the North, East, and South offices. Later as chief product officer, he led specialist teams in driving strategic initiatives and creating bespoke tools that delivered client delight and recognition. He helped create diverse communities and a culture of learning and sharing. He has also been integral to the Mindshare new business powerhouse over the past decade.

    The role of GroupM’s chief strategy officer will be to channel data, technology, consumer understanding to chart the growth and transformation agenda. Map’s appointment into the new role is part of the strategy that envisions doubling the focus with a significant shift on new-age technologies, products and offerings that require a transformation of both GroupM and client businesses. He will report to Prasanth Kumar.

    “I am extremely grateful to have such an amazing journey at GroupM. I think learning and change have always been a part of my career here. Furthermore, as our offerings become more specialised, we need to ensure synergy and seamless flow of expertise between the various players both internal, WPP and external to get the full benefits of both scale and specialisation,” said Parthasarathy Mandayam on his new role. “As I steer through this journey I will continue to push forward with the growth and transformation agenda to bring in significant synergies between new-age data, technology, consulting, products and offerings for our clients and internal stakeholders.”

    Lakhani has more than 20 years of experience in various roles in Mindshare and GroupM. In his previous role as Mindshare South Asia’s chief operating officer, he has been instrumental in driving the best practices and strengthening key client relationships. Earlier in his career as the leader for Mindshare Fulcrum South Asia, he successfully led the integration of the digital business of Unilever in India, leading the team to the most coveted win of a Grand Prix at Cannes. 

    “We want to build on this existing momentum and drive Mindshare ‘Good Growth’ for our clients,” stated Amin Lakhani. “New age data, technology, creativity, research, consulting, and products will play a major role in this journey. As marketers, we need to take charge and lead this journey for our clients and brands. I am excited for this next phase of my journey.”

    Lakhani has extensive cross-functional experience in media, marketing, product management, leading large teams and has worked with various clients like Pepsi, GSK, ICICI, Castrol, HSBC, BYJU’s, Muthoot, Kellogg’s amongst others. He plays an active role in industry bodies like Barc and AAAI. In this new role, he will report to Prasanth Kumar and Mindshare Asia Pacific CEO Helen McRae.

    “Both Maps and Amin are distinguished leaders who have brought energy, skill and leadership, to the Mindshare Group over the past few years in office. They have both led the agency with their invaluable expertise bringing immense value for our clients and internal teams,” commented Helen McRae. “Mindshare’s achievements and client success journeys over the last few years narrate the business acumen of both Maps and Amin. I congratulate them both and wish them the very best for their new roles!

  • toothsi names Vishwanath Shetty as VP of brand partnerships

    toothsi names Vishwanath Shetty as VP of brand partnerships

    Mumbai: toothsi, a D2C start-up recognised for its smile makeover products and services has named Vishwanath Shetty as its new vice-president of brand partnerships. 

    With more than 15 years of experience in IP/branded content sales across media, advertising and martech, Shetty will lead the newly-formed partnership development team. The team was created to optimise the information flow and develop new initiatives with partners across the marketing and advertising ecosystem.

    “At toothsi, we are proud of the long-term value exchange we have developed with our partners. Nurturing these partnerships and integrating new ones is a significant concept of our mission in a fast-evolving technology, said toothsi co-founder and CEO Dr Arpi Mehta. “Shetty’s strong cross-functional expertise and dynamic leadership style will guide our new partnership development team to even higher levels of excellence in serving our clients.”

    Before joining toothsi, Shetty was associated with Pocket Aces as vice president, head of sales and brand solutions, where he was instrumental in building and growing its business and advertising partnerships team. He has also served at The Walt Disney Company as regional head – brand content (W&S), where he was instrumental in strategising high-profit revenue model for youth cluster in media networks by creating marquee intellectual properties such as “Girl in the City” season 1-3 and “The Trip” season 1-2.

    “I am thrilled to join the toothsi team at this pertinent juncture in their development and to collaborate with a brilliant set of people across the company,” said Vishwanath Shetty. “Our efforts to build partnerships will strengthen our position, allowing us to integrate strategic objectives that create mutual value for brand marketing strategies that involve our partners.”

  • Swiggy’s director of marketing Umesh Krishna moves on

    Swiggy’s director of marketing Umesh Krishna moves on

    Mumbai: Swiggy’s director of marketing Umesh Krishna has moved on from the company after a four-year stint. He made the announcement with a social media post.

    Krishna is a 360-degree marketer with expertise in digital strategy, performance marketing, brand management and media purchasing. Prior to Swiggy, he was associated with several companies like Ola and Bajaj Auto in senior marketing roles. In the past, he also worked with Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra.

    At Swiggy, Krishna was driving multi-moment marketing bringing together data, creative and media fronts. His role required him to define the addressable audiences, marketing budgets, and define/own marketing metrics.

    Krishna has also helped Swiggy in developing brand architecture, brand assets, brand strategy, and creative strategy. He was part of the brand’s use of martech and adtech, along with media planning, and buying for television, print, radio, OOH and digital media. He also managed performance marketing for Swiggy’s private labels and cloud kitchens.

    “I had always imagined that a separation from Swiggy would be painful. However, I walk into my last day at work feeling happy and content,” Krishna said in his LinkedIn post.

    “Building teams and practices from scratch and making them work together at scale, was something I loved doing over the past few years. I loved it so much would like to go do this once again – different place and space, but once again,” he further said.

    His next move is not yet known.

  • Shauvik Ghosh joins KnowledgeHut as PR & communications head

    Shauvik Ghosh joins KnowledgeHut as PR & communications head

    Mumbai: KnowledgeHut, a Bangalore-based short-duration skills provider has appointed Shauvik Ghosh as head of PR and corporate communications. The appointment is part of the ed-tech start-up’s plans to aggressively expand its business and drive growth in its business across its domestic and international markets.

    In his new role, Ghosh will be responsible for driving awareness and establishing the brand stature for KnowledgeHut and driving an effective communication narrative for the brand. He will report to head of product and growth Ashish Kumar and Knowledgehut CEO Subramanyam Reddy.

    “We are at an exciting stage of our growth story and believe that effective communication is essential for the success and growth of every organisation,” said KnowledgeHut CMO Ashish Kumar. “We are delighted to have Shauvik onboard as the Head of PR and Corporate Communications. His creative vision and analytical ability coupled with a background in business journalism will add a refreshing perspective to our brand story.”

    Ghosh comes with over 15 years of experience across key segments in corporate communications. Before moving into corporate communications, he spent a decade as a senior business journalist with some of the leading business dailies in the country, wherein he covered multiple beats including media and advertising, IT & ITES, aviation, real estate, infrastructure & logistics, and telecommunications from both the corporate and the government policy perspective. His expertise lies in managing multiple projects and campaigns across geographies and providing results beyond expectations is well documented.

    “I strongly believe in KnowledgeHut’s mission to help organisations and professionals unlock excellence through skills development,” stated Shauvik Ghosh. “The organisation is a hidden gem and the opportunity to take on this mandate is an honour. Nothing gives me more joy than building an effective brand narrative for such an organisation. I am thrilled to join KnowledgeHut and looking forward to providing my best service.”

  • LT Foods names K Ganapathy Subramaniam as marketing head

    LT Foods names K Ganapathy Subramaniam as marketing head

    Mumbai: Consumer food company LT Foods has announced the appointment of K Ganapathy Subramaniam as head of marketing. He will be responsible for developing and implementing branding and marketing strategies to strengthen LT Foods’ brands in India, the company said.

    Subramaniam brings with him a diverse experience of over 17 years across FMCG categories. He has a master’s in business administration from IMT Ghaziabad. Prior to this, he was associated with Dabur India as DGM – innovation. At Dabur India, he was responsible for spearheading innovation to ensure a steady pipeline of new products for the company’s business growth across categories of interest. He led the launch of Dabur Sanitise Range of personal and household sanitising products, the company’s foray into staples, and the launch of Dabur Vatika Face wash.

    At LT Foods, Subramaniam will anchor the marketing function by providing strategic leadership across all aspects of marketing including brand equity and portfolio management, innovation and new product development, and media and communication along with route to market programs. His key strengths lie in handling portfolios of complexity and scale, launching new products with a sharp focus on consumers, and introducing processes to deliver marketing excellence, said the statement. 

    “We are happy to have onboard Subramaniam as head of marketing. As LT Foods continues to strengthen & diversify its food products offerings in the Indian market, we look forward to gaining immensely from his rich experience in the FMCG domain,” said MD and CEO LT Foods Ashwani Kumar Arora. “His addition to the LT Foods family shall be valuable in taking forward our growth & innovation mindset. It will help in setting new benchmarks in delighting our consumers.”

    “I am thrilled to join the LT Foods team at this exciting time when the organisation is scaling up its innovation & band marketing initiatives. I look forward to adding further momentum and resilience to the marketing function at LT Foods,” added Subramaniam.

  • Industry veteran Prasoon Kumar joins Arzooo as VP-strategy

    Industry veteran Prasoon Kumar joins Arzooo as VP-strategy

    Mumbai: Consumer electronics veteran Prasoon Kumar has joined B2B commerce platform Arzooo as vice president, strategy. Kumar has been at the forefront of leading distribution, sales and channel strategy for some of India’s largest white goods brands.

    At Arzooo, Kumar’s charter will be to drive the company’s expansion and reach into the breadth and width of the country with mid to long term strategy and bringing strategic partnerships on it’s mission to power offline retail with technology and financial capability and making them competitive and scalable, said the statement.

    In his last assignment at Voltas, Kumar played a pivotal role in setting up the business for the Voltas-Beko – a joint venture of India’s voltas and Turkey’s Beko. He was leading the sales and marketing function for Voltas-Beko while spearheading the launch for the JV brand in India including the channel strategy and consumer marketing.

    “As someone from the industry I have followed Arzooo’s journey closely and it’s very fascinating how it has evolved in short span and cracked one of the most complex categories,” said Prasoon Kumar. “Arzooo is already making waves in the retail and consumer electronics ecosystem and I am thrilled to be a part of this young and energetic team and excited about taking the venture to new heights.”

    Backed by over 20 years of cumulative experience in channel sales, and revenue management, Kumar has displayed innate proficiency in formulating strategy for sales & distribution, new business development of general trade. Before his Voltas-Beko tenure, Kumar has worked as the sales head for Godrej and played a crucial role in expanding presence for Haier India. He worked with LG India in its founding days and has played his part in establishing LG as the market leader in India’s consumer durable market.

    “I have known Prasoon as an industry leader from my flipkart days, and always been impressed about his business acumen and innovative ideas. I am pleased to have him onboard with us at Arzooo,” commented Arzooo co-founder and CEO Khushnud Khan. “His extensive experience in the white goods space will help us shape our vision to transform offline retail.”