ITV

Category: People

  • Aviva India appoints Ali Onder Lulu as chief distribution officer

    Aviva India appoints Ali Onder Lulu as chief distribution officer

    MUMBAI: Aviva Life Insurance has announced the appointment of Ali Onder Lulu to the position of chief distribution officer for the brand’s India business based out of the company’s Gurgaon HQ. In his role, Lulu will oversee the company’s multiple customer touchpoints through its varied distribution challenges both for individual and corporate customers. He will lead the company’s strategic organic growth plans.

    Aviva India MD and CEO Trevor Bull said, “Ali has wide-ranging industry experience across many areas of the business but particularly sales and customer care. He has been associated with the Aviva International family for over 10 years and therefore already lives by the core values that are key to how we operate as a company. We will benefit from the new perspectives he can bring as well as his overall deep knowledge and expertise as we look to increase further the value we provide to all our stakeholders. I am delighted that through his appointment we have further strengthened the company’s leadership team to accelerate our growth aspirations.”

    Lulu said, “India continues to be a conducive market for the growth of the life insurance business. The industry has witnessed the need to explore new avenues to connect and engage with customers.  Innovative experiential tools, product excellence and increased value on product purchase will propel industry growth. I believe, there is a huge growth potential in India, a view shared by our shareholders and we invest further energies to realise and accelerate our enhanced goals. I am thankful to the management for this opportunity and demonstrating faith in me to take the magnanimous responsibility.  I am excited to be associated with the organization and look forward to some good work ahead.”

    Lulu is an industry veteran with an experience of over 22 years. He has executed leadership roles for more than 15 years and has adept knowledge in product development, customer management, bancassurance, group business, business development and distribution retail, (agency & direct). In the past, he has been associated with the Insurance Group of Sabanci Conglomerate. Under his aegis, AkEmeklilik, a pension and life company was introduced in 2003. Further, he played an instrumental role in establishing AvivaSA Life and Pension company in 2007.

  • Cricketing legend MS Dhoni and CARS24 announce strategic tie-up

    Cricketing legend MS Dhoni and CARS24 announce strategic tie-up

    New Delhi: India’s leading home-grown global talent management company Rhiti Sports Management has announced the strategic partnership between legendary cricketer MS Dhoni and CARS24, one of the country’s fastest growing tech-enabled used car companies. As part of this partnership facilitated by Rhiti Sports Management, Dhoni will own equity in CARS24 and will also act as its brand ambassador.

    As Dhoni and several other leading sports personalities’ image and brand management consultant, Rhiti Sports has worked tirelessly to bring in new additions to their brand portfolio. As a fully integrated sports marketing and management company, Rhiti Sports offers a wide range of services such as sports consultancy, conceptualisation, athlete representation, sports asset management and marketing, event management, media rights distribution, sponsorship, live entertainment and original content production services.

    According to Arun Pandey, Chairman and Managing Director of Rhiti Sports Management, “MS. Dhoni is a catalyst for ‘change’. He has changed the way cricket was seen earlier and how its is seen today. And, I can relate the same change in the space CARS24 caters to. Extremely delighted on facilitating this partnership.”

    On his association with the brand, Dhoni said, “I am thrilled to be part of the CARS24 journey. Besides being a fan of all things to do with cars, I am also a fan of new age companies that are disruptive, innovative and shaping the future. CARS24 is definitely one of these companies. They have big ambitions and I am excited to work with them and help them achieve their goals.”

    Dhoni is already the face of prestigious brands such as GoDaddy, Bharat Matrimony, Mastercard India, Dream11 and SEVEN among others and Rhiti Sports aims to increase his outreach in the months ahead.  Some of the other leading sports personalities managed by the company are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Faf Du Plessis, Mohit Sharma, Gurkeerat Singh, Karn Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and Kaustubh Radkar.

  • DIGISOL Appoints Krushna Garkhede as Head of Marketing

    DIGISOL Appoints Krushna Garkhede as Head of Marketing

    Mumbai: In a bid to strengthen its core team, DIGISOL Systems Ltd., a leading provider of IT Networking products, appoints Mr. Krushna Garkhede as Head of Marketing. In his role, Krushna will drive the company's marketing efforts to support overall strategic objectives for DIGISOL 2.0 and impel growth by focusing on market opportunities.

    Announcing the appointment, Mr. Devendra Kamtekar, CEO, DIGISOL Systems said, “We are extremely delighted to welcome Krushna as Head of Marketing. With his expertise in both online and offline marketing, and deep understanding of consumer and enterprise behavior, we are confident that he will help drive the next phase of growth.”

    Speaking on his new role, Mr. Krushna Garkhede, Head of Marketing said, “I am excited to join the Digisol team. It’s a privilege to work with an organization that has been digitally empowering businesses through its solution in India since 3 decades. In this role, I am excited to identify strategic opportunities that would amplify our voice and presence in the market even more, through various marketing initiatives.”

    Mr. Krushna holds 12+ years of experience in Marketing. Prior to joining Digisol, he  has worked with brands like Videocon Industries Ltd, Meru Mobility Tech Private Ltd, Kail Ltd (Sansui-Kelvinator) & Ion Exchange India Ltd.

  • MakeMyTrip appoints Sunil Suresh as CMO

    MakeMyTrip appoints Sunil Suresh as CMO

    MUMBAI: Sunil Suresh has been appointed as the chief marketing officer for MakeMyTrip and Goibibo. In his role, Suresh will be responsible for driving the company’s marketing efforts, supporting the overall strategic objectives, overseeing all initiatives across the marketing funnel, including brand, social, performance and innovation marketing tracks.

    MakeMyTrip COO Vipul Prakash said, “We are excited to have Sunil on board our leadership team as he brings to the table 18-years of rich experience in marketing, delivering growth across technology, consumer goods and retail businesses. With a unique blend of expertise in multiple domains, deep understanding of consumer behaviour and how businesses can leverage the power of digital, we are confident that he will help propel MakeMyTrip’s next phase of growth.”

    MakeMyTrip India chief marketing officer Sunil Suresh commented, “I am delighted to join MakeMyTrip, one of the most iconic Online Indian brands of our time. The growth story of the company has been synonymous with the growth of travel industry in India. With ambitious plans lined up for its next phase of growth, I am looking forward to be a part of this exciting trip.”

    A graduate from IIT Roorkee, Suresh holds a PG diploma from IIM Lucknow. In his earlier stint, he was working as the chief marketing and strategy officer at Capillar Tech. Prior to that, he has woked with brands like Yum! Brands (Pizza Hut) and Unilever.

  • BSH Home appliances elevates Gunjan Srivastava as asia-pacific head; Neeraj Bahl joins as new india managing director And CEO

    BSH Home appliances elevates Gunjan Srivastava as asia-pacific head; Neeraj Bahl joins as new india managing director And CEO

    MUMBAI: BSH Home Appliances Group, Europe’s largest home appliances manufacturer and one of the world’s leading companies in the sector today announced leadership changes at the helm of the organization with Mr. Gunjan Srivastava, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer elevated as Head of BSH Region Asia-Pacific headquartered at Singapore.

    Over the last five years, Gunjan has been instrumental in spearheading BSH India’s growth in a competitive consumer durables category by firmly establishing its three flagship brands – Bosch, Siemens and the most recently launched luxury brand – Gaggenau. Today, BSH India is a strong contributor to the company’s global vision and growth trajectory witnessing double digit growth as well as cementing the brand’s presence in new product segments. In his expanded role, Gunjan’s mandate will encompass running BSH’s business across the Asia-Pacific region including India, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

    His successor, Mr. Neeraj Bahl joins BSH Household Appliances as the MD and CEO starting

    July 01, 2019 from Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd where he was the Group Chief Sales for Retail and Online. In his role as the Business Head for Consumer Electronics at Panasonic, he was responsible for increasing sales of TV panels from a mere 3% to over 10% market share within a span of six-seven years. He greatly contributed in expanding the company’s sales network from 5000 to more than 15000. His achievements include the successful launch of XXL panel in 2016, launch of the OLED range of panels in 2018 with Ranbir Kapoor as the brand ambassador, the Viera Shinobi pro series panels and the relaunch of Panasonic urban audio in 2017. During his significant tenure of more than 25 years, Neeraj has also worked with leading global organizations including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Electrolux India bringing vast industry experience.

    Commenting on his new role at BSH, Gunjan Srivastava – Head of BSH Region Asia-Pacific said, “The last five years as BSH’s India head have been an enriching experience establishing its credentials as well as becoming the first triple brand player catering to varied customer segments, expanding/doubling our market footprint, fortifying our presence in established verticals as well as introducing new categories. I am excited to take on my new role and the incredible opportunities it brings, strengthening BSH brand and product presence in the APAC region. I wish Neeraj Bahl success as BSH India readies for its next phase of growth.”

    The newly-appointed India head, Neeraj Bahl said, “Within a short span of time, BSH Household Appliances has become a strong brand bringing the best of German Engineering along with localized appliances for Indian consumers. With a unique three brand strategy with Bosch, Siemens and Gaggenau, the company’s robust manufacturing capabilities and innovative product portfolio, I am excited to carve the future of BSH India as well as reinvent and simplify daily lives of consumers across the country with a strong focus on India’s tier II & III cities as well.”

  • Geometry Encompass ropes in Ranjit Raina as CEO

    Geometry Encompass ropes in Ranjit Raina as CEO

    MUMBAI: India’s leading experiential marketing and brand activation agency, Geometry Encompass recently announced the appointment of Ranjit Raina as the Chief Executive Officer. Raina will commence his new role from August 13, 2019. In his earlier stint with the agency, he served in the capacity of Chief Operating Off­­­­icer.

    Raina holds an experience of over 27 years across production houses, experiential industry and television. He first joined the agency in 2004. In his decade long stint with Encompass, he was involved with the bottom line functions primarily Finance and Corporate Operations of the organisation. He has worked with clients across sectors like Nokia, Pepsi, Hyundai, GSK, Mercedes Benz, Palmolive and Gillette.  He has also played an eminent role in the acquisition of the agency by global giant WPP in 2008.

    In 2014, he moved on to lead his own business venture, an engagement design consultancy company.

    “Ranjit has witnessed the growth of Geometry Encompass from the very beginning and now will bring his expertise and experience back to the organization,” said Diana Cowley, CEO – APAC, Geometry Global. “The team of Geometry Encompass has always played a key part in Geometry’s Asia Pacific growth. I am confident that Ranjit will lead the team to even greater heights in the months and years to come.”

    Speaking on the development, Roshan Abbas CEO and MD said, “We are happy to have Ranjit back as the leader of our team. He has proven time and again his strong understanding of the market and his expertise in live engagement experiences. He is bringing with himself the agility of a start-up and a new-age thinking that will lead Geometry Encompass to newer heights.”

    Taking up the new role, Ranjit Raina said, “Geometry Encompass has always been experimental and industry-first in its approach and is driven by passionate individuals who are always working to create a new experience for brands and its consumers. Being digitally-charged and data-driven, the agency ensures best returns for its clients and the most impactful conversations with consumers.  I am glad to be back with the force and hope to achieve new milestones in the near future.”

  • U GRO Capital Ltd announced Mr. Navin Puri as an Independent Director

    U GRO Capital Ltd announced Mr. Navin Puri as an Independent Director

    MUMBAI: U GRO Capital, a BSE listed, technology enabled, small business lending company has appointed Mr. Navin Puri, a financial services veteran as an Independent Director on its Board.

    Mr. Navin Puri was formerly the country Head of Branch Banking at HDFC Bank and has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.  He has held several senior positions in various capacities in HDFC Bank and ANZ Grindlays Bank. He has completed his MBA from Texas University and B. Com. From St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta. He is also a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants, India.

    U GRO Capital, which is backed by multiple marquee investors including NewQuest, PAG, ADV Partners and Samena Capital prides itself on its strong corporate governance framework and in being a truly board controlled, management run institution.

    Mr. Navin Puri joins other industry luminaries including Satyananda Mishra, the former Chief Information Commissioner of India, NK Maini, the former Deputy Managing Director of SIDBI, Rajeev Agarwal, ex-member of SEBI, Abhijit Sen, the ex-CFO of Citi India, Ranjana Agarwal, a partner at Vaish & Associates and S. Karuppasamy, the former Executive Director of the RBI on U GRO’s majority independent board.

    Mr. Shachindra Nath, Chairman and Managing Director, stated “It is with great pleasure that we welcome Mr. Navin Puri to our Board. One of the founding pillars of U GRO is board driven corporate governance, – a core tenet of which is strong Independent Directors. Mr. Puri is a highly respected figure who will not only add great value to us in this aspect, but also through his strategic insights resulting from a long and successful career in the Indian financial sector. We are confident that this will be a fruitful addition that will provide great long-term value to U GRO.”

    U GRO’s philosophy is to bring together individuals with deep and non-overlapping expertise on its board and has a board comprising of individuals with experience in working with regulatory bodies like RBI, SEBI, developmental funds like SIDBI, the Indian government and those with significant expertise in the audit and compliance functions. With Mr. Navin Puri, the company has onboarded a seasoned private banker who will help it in its journey to ‘Solve the Unsolved’ – the small business credit availability problem in India.

  • Isobar India announces key elevations and leadership changes

    Isobar India announces key elevations and leadership changes

    MUMBAI: Isobar, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network, has announced key leadership changes across the country.

    Anadi Sah has been promoted to executive creative director, in addition to his current role of lead innovation, technology & creative. As part of this new mandate, Sah will now spearhead Isobar’s innovation and creative unit at a national level along with Isobar India chief creative officer Anish Varghese.

    Business head Gurgaon Himanshu Arora will now be associate vice president, taking in charge of the agency’s business for North region.

    Aakriti Sinha, currently director, social media, will now be national head for Isobar’s social media practice and will be responsible for scaling up the agency’s social media solutions.

    Director, business Madhura Ranade will take charge as head – branded content & partnerships, Isobar’s new service offering. She will be responsible for driving content consulting and strategy with an all-encompassing data-led approach towards platform and content recommendation to drive business results. Her role will also look after content consulting towards branded IP creation to create properties that are brand-safe, drive the brand vision and generate value.

    On the appointment, Isobar South Asia group MD Shamsuddin Jasani said, “We are preparing for the next stage of growth for Isobar India. We have identified the leaders of Isobar who will work with us to take the agency to greater heights. Anadi, Himanshu, Madhura, and Aakriti have played an important role in developing the vision and leadership needed to shape our business and brand strategy across our creative, marketing and technology functions. Their promotions will ensure we continue to power our India agenda and drive excellence in our experience-led transformation proposition.”

    The elevations will boost an accelerated growth by forging stronger ties between the agency, partners and clients, along with streamlining business verticals and fortifying operational efficiency. With these elevations, Isobar will further drive the global agenda of experience-led transformation across its practices.

  • Netcore welcomes Rajeev Soni as CRO to help grow its dominance in India

    Netcore welcomes Rajeev Soni as CRO to help grow its dominance in India

    MUMBAI: Netcore, a pioneer in SaaS-based Multi-channel Marketing Automation, AI/ML-powered Martech and Contextual CPaaS, helping 3,000+ enterprises globally in their customer acquisition, engagement, and retention, today announced the appointment of Rajeev Soni as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), India. Rajeev is well known as a dynamic executive with a wealth of experience leading regional sales organizations and go-to-market operations at start-ups and public traded leading enterprise technology companies. He will be leading a 100+ strong high-performance sales and customer success team at Netcore.

    “I am very excited to welcome the kind of talent and breadth of knowledge Rajeev brings as a visionary growth leader,” said Kalpit Jain, Group Chief Executive Officer of Netcore. “He has deep experience in driving sustained growth and scale, and his passion for building exceptional teams who will think, act and deliver on Netcore’s ‘Customer First’ promise aligns with our strategy and culture.”

    Rajeev was most recently at bootstrapped Mobile Analytics & Martech SaaS namely appICE.io, where he served as Managing partner since 2017. During his tenure, he helped grow the company to 5X growth. Before his role at appICE, he served as Managing Director & VP Sales at Nuance Communication, where he was instrumental in accelerating Nuance’s growth momentum, M&A and customer-centricity in the South Asia market, particularly the Conversational AI & Cognitive services in the enterprise market. He has worked on management positions in Aspect Software, Microsoft, Kana (now Verint company) and Microland besides serving as a board member of companies in NA and DACH region. Rajeev is masters from IIT Delhi and Exec. MBA from IIM Indore.

    Rajeev said, “Netcore has built a leadership position with its email marketing and marketing automation solutions in India. I am looking forward to making Netcore a “must-have” partner for every marketing, digital and growth leaders in India. Bootstrapped and profitable, Netcore is showing the world that it is possible to create a global technology products company from India. I am excited to be part of the management team to transform customer acquisition, growth, engagement, and retention at every customer-facing organization in India”.

  • Ananth Narayanan joins Medlife as co-founder & CEO

    Ananth Narayanan joins Medlife as co-founder & CEO

    MUMBAI: The Board of Directors at Medlife, www.medlife.com, have announced that Mr. Ananth Narayanan (former CEO of Myntra and Jabong and ex McKinsey Senior Partner) would be joining the company as Co-Founder and CEO. In this capacity, Ananth will be responsible for driving the next S curve of growth, continue to strengthen the team, lead M&A’s, and help formulate strategy around new areas of growth. He will also be joining the Medlife Board of Directors.

    Medlife is the largest e-health company in India today with three business lines including pharmacy, diagnostics and e-consultation. Since its inception in November 2014 by Prashant Singh and Tushar Kumar, Medlife has scaled rapidly to become the first e-pharmacy to clock 1000-crore revenue run rate. It currently operates across 29 states, 4,000 cities and 25,000 pin codes in India fulfilling over 25,000 deliveries daily.

    Medlife operates its medicine delivery service through 40 fulfillment centers and 3 large regional hubs in 22 cities. It has one national and five regional laboratories and over 350 phlebotomists helping bring diagnostics to patients’ homes. It has also launched its e-consultation service after acquiring Eclinic247 last year.

    Speaking about this, Mr. Tushar Kumar and Mr. Prashant Singh, Founders, Medlife, said, “We are very excited to have Ananth partner with us in this journey. We look forward to working together to scale Medlife rapidly going forward. We are at a stage where we have to build this from a $200 million business to a $2 billion plus business over the next 5 years and Ananth in his previous stint has done just that.”

    Adding his comments, Mr. Ananth Narayanan, Co-Founder and CEO, Medlife said “Technology can play a disruptive role in making healthcare simple, personal, and accessible to all Indians. Medlife has built a terrific business and a great team. I look forward to working with them and with Prashant and Tushar to continue to scale the business.”

    This announcement comes on the heel of Medlife announcing the acquisition of Myra Medicines, India’s only express pharmacy delivery service. Post this acquisition Medlife now controls largest share of the e-pharmacy market, a space that is on way to become the next big disruptor after the food delivery service.

    Ananth Narayanan is the former Chief Executive Officer of Myntra. He led Myntra's aspiration to transform how people shop for fashion online and also focused on building category-leading fashion brands. Featured as one of ‘India's Hottest 40 under 40 Business Leaders’ in 2014, Ananth has deep expertise in driving performance improvement and has a particular passion for product development.

    Prior to joining Myntra, Ananth was a Director at Mckinsey & Company and worked with the firm for 15 years across four offices (Chicago, Shanghai, Taipei and Chennai). His role entailed leading the Product Development practice in Asia and working with companies on strategy, operations and organisation. He has successfully helped companies streamline operations and supply, improve product development, develop strategies, business plans and organisational models.

    Ananth has a Bachelor degree in Engineering from University of Madras and a Masters from the University of Michigan, in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. He is on the Industry Advisory Board of University of Michigan’s Tauber Institute.