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  • Sohail Khan appointed Columbus India’s business head – West

    Sohail Khan appointed Columbus India’s business head – West

    MUMBAI: Columbus India, the digital agency of Dentsu Aegis Network, has appointed Sohail Khan Qadri as business head – West. 

    Khan joins the agency to lead Columbus India’s digital agency on record (AOR) business in western India. He will report to Nitin Sabharwal, chief business officer, Columbus India.

    Khan has 18 years of experience in digital communication, digital AOR, content marketing solutions, social media optimisation and marketing, search engine marketing, digital media planning and buying, mobile media, and technology and start-ups. 

    Khan has worked with vMobo Mobile, DGM India, R K Swamy BBDO, Tribal DDB India, Lintas and Interactive Realities. He has worked across businesses into telecom, consumer electronics, retail, auto, FMCG, BFSI, sports, healthcare, public policy and governance. His last stint was at iRealities where he was appointed as business director. 

    In his current role, Khan will focus on building the digital AOR business for Columbus India. As business head for western India, he will be actively involved in crafting a roadmap for the growth of the digital AOR business across key categories such as BFSI, e-commerce, brand commerce, education and FMCG.

    Commenting on his assignment, Khan said, “The digital consumer is evolving, and so are the channels to reach them online. Traditional AOR business has been more focused on being campaign driven with digital coming at the far end of the planning process, largely implementing the strategies driven by a much larger mainline agenda. We are seeing that often the digital strategy lacks cohesion between key elements such as business objective, communication objective, campaign objective, channels of execution, consumer experience, content, technology and brand performance. Columbus is in a unique position to stitch all these pieces together to offer brands a digital AOR that blends the elements of communication, content, creative, media, social, search, performance and finally sales through a cohesively designed and executed digital strategy”

    Sabharwal added, “We have set up Columbus to continuously adapt and adopt the latest digital trends and practices and give a holistic and seamless solution to our clients. With Sohail joining us, we are sure of pushing the envelope even further with much deeper insights and solutions to deliver against the client’s objectives.”

  • Vertuals appoints Mr. Zahid Gawandi as the agency’s business head

    Vertuals appoints Mr. Zahid Gawandi as the agency’s business head

    MUMBAI: Zahid Gawandi, the much experienced and feted marcom specialist has recently been anointed the Business Head at Vertuals, the firebrand Digital Content specialist outfit and will be based out of their Mumbai office.

    Zahid of the Tata Donnelley, Dentsu, Percept-Hakuhodo, Reliance Capital & Spice Digital genre, now has taken on the daunting task of taking the agency towards a defined growth trajectory and will also be responsible for instilling a robust content practice which the industry is clearly gravitating towards.

    His large body of work has led him to many a watering hole, across sectors ranging from Automobiles to BFSI, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Fashion & E-commerce amongst others. His ranging years saw him hold several senior management positions, with his last notable foray was helming the role of CMO at Destimoney Group. Accolades have also adorned his lustrous career graph of which the ‘Corporate Communication Leadership Award’ by Lokmat BFSI Awards deserves special mention. He was also profiled in Impact magazine under the Future Leaders section.

    Vertuals at Managing Partner, Mr. Ajay Tripathi commenting on the appointment said, “With the advent of video consumption going up, Vertuals is well positioned as a brand storyteller across the digital ecosystem. We are delighted to have Zahid on board. He has joined the agency at a time where his ability to ramp up business verticals and take brands to the next level of growth in a short span of time will be an asset to Vertuals. His wealth of knowledge and experience in advertising both on the agency & client side across various categories will serve in maximizing value for our clients.”

    Mr. Zahid Gawandi also expressed his enthusiasm on his appointment, saying, “I’m excited to be part of a young, restless and kickass team at Vertuals. Customers always seek great stories which they can relate to. We understand that ‘Marketing’ and ‘Storytelling’ is the new power couple. Hence at Vertuals we combine an idea (Marketing) with an emotion (Storytelling) and serve it up for consumption to targeted audiences, leveraging strengths of our home turf – the digital ecosystem. This creates real emotional connections with the consumers – connections that can turn into trust, and eventually engender revenue. We are already in talks with several brands to take their brand story on various digital platforms.”

  • KWAN realigns its management team, readies itself for the next level of growth

    KWAN realigns its management team, readies itself for the next level of growth

    MUMBAI: In a major management reshuffle, KWAN Entertainment, India’s largest entertainment marketplace connecting investors, brands, and artists, has announced the appointment of its founding partners Indranil Das Blah and Vijay Subramaniam as its Co-CEOs. In the new role, the veteran duo will manage the day-to-day operations and the agency business at KWAN. The move is aimed at leveraging their combined extensive experience in the fields of entertainment, media, sports, and music to drive the company to the next level of its growth.

    The latest development will also see KWAN’s Founder Anirban Das Blah take on a more evolved strategic role, in which he will guide the firm’s long-term vision, strategy, and growth as its promoter. The move will additionally give Anirban, a prominent name in the entertainment and media landscape, the opportunity to diversify his professional interests to other business ventures such as Mojostar (cofounded with Jiggy George) as an investor, promoter, and mentor.

    Other members of the KWAN senior leadership team will continue in their current roles. Co-founder Madhu Mantena will continue to drive the evolution of KWAN into a diversified media and entertainment company, along with Anirban. Founding partner Dhruv Chitgopekar continues to spearhead its brand and consumer incubation initiatives.

    Indranil Das Blah, Founding Partner and Co-CEO – KWAN Entertainment

    Having started out as an Assistant Manager (Sales & Marketing) at sports marketing firm TSM in 2002, Indranil has since carved a name for himself in the fields of brand sales, celebrity endorsements, and sports marketing. He joined tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi’s Globosport as the Head of its Delhi office in 2004 and worked closely with him on all sports-related initiatives for Globosport. By 2008, he had risen to the rank of Head of Sales and Sports at Globosport and, by 2015, had played an instrumental role in some of India’s biggest sporting events. This included getting sponsorships for 3WTA and 2 ATP tennis events, as well as initiatives aimed at the grassroots level, such as the Apollo Tyres Mission.

    Indranil co-founded KWAN Entertainment in 2009. Under his leadership, the sports division at KWAN today manages many leading sports franchises in India, including Ranbir Kapoor-owned Mumbai City FC and Sanjay Dutt’s cricket franchise Leo Lions (part of the Masters’ Champions League in the UAE). The team manages multiple athletes and has been instrumental in securing over 200 sponsorship and endorsement deals in the last five years.

    Vijay Subramaniam, Founding Partner and Co-CEO – KWAN Entertainment

    A mechanical engineer by education, Vijay came to realise that his real passion was entertainment. As a result, he joined Globosport as an intern and swiftly rose up the ranks to head the company’s business in South India. During his tenure at Globosport, Vijay established the company’s LIVE touring business and spearheaded sales across brands and corporates in the southern region. He also successfully managed several big-ticket events, including the WTA Sunfeast Open in 2008, and the countrywide Royal Stag Saif Ali Khan Rock Tour.

    As a co-founder and partner at KWAN, Vijay has been responsible for running various business verticals such as brand sales, live entertainment, television, music, and content. His in-depth knowledge of brands, live events, and films, coupled with an analytical business approach, have played a critical role in identifying several key growth and expansion opportunities for KWAN, and established Vijay as one of the experts in the entertainment industry. He also manages some of the country’s biggest and most talented Bollywood stars such as Deepika Padukone, Pritam, Shraddha Kapoor etc.

    Speaking on the management rejig, Anirban Das Blah, Founder – KWAN Entertainment, said, “Having helmed KWAN for almost a decade now, I feel the time is right for me to hand over the reins of its day-to-day operations to Indranil and Vijay. They’re both extremely talented individuals who’ve been associated with KWAN from day one, and have proved their business management acumen time and again by driving exponential growth for their respective verticals. With them spearheading KWAN’s business operations as Co-CEOs, I have no doubt that the firm will continue to grow at a rapid pace, evolving and expanding in sync with the rapidly-changing entertainment and media ecosystem of the country.”

    Indranil Das Blah added, “This is a big moment for me, personally and professionally. The KWAN family is extremely close to my heart and has been a big part of my professional endeavours over a large part of my career. I am eager to take on this new role and the responsibility that it brings, and uphold the faith that the team at KWAN has bestowed upon me.”

    Vijay Subramaniam said, “For me, the KWAN journey has been nothing short of a dream fulfilled. I feel honoured and privileged to be able to continue the good work that we have achieved as a team over the years. I am confident that, with Anirban guiding the company’s strategic vision, Indranil and I will add more milestones to KWAN’s ongoing success story by leading the company into the next phase of its growth.”

    Since its inception, KWAN has created an extensive popular culture universe in India comprising leading Bollywood and regional celebrities, native digital content creators, musicians, prominent fashion & lifestyle personalities, and specialist influencers. It works across multiple domains such as celebrity management, live entertainment, sports, TV, licensing, movie packaging, music, and regional cinema, and has also invested in and run various media-related businesses. KWAN is currently associated with several top Indian celebrities such as Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan, Sonam Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sania Mirza, Rana Dagubatti, Mahesh Babu, Pritam, Shraddha Kapoor, and Sushant Singh Rajput, to name a few.

  • Bishwajeet Samal to head marketing at Volkswagen India

    Bishwajeet Samal to head marketing at Volkswagen India

    MUMBAI: In a bid to further strengthen its core team, Volkswagen, Europe’s leading car manufacturer, has appointed Bishwajeet Samal as the head of marketing for Volkswagen passenger cars in India.

    Samal is currently responsible for regional marketing, international communications at Volkswagen AG, Germany. 

    Saman joined Volkswagen India in 2008 and returns to the homeland with over a decade of experience within the brand Volkswagen. Mr. Samal’s appointment will be effective 1st June 2018.

    Volkswagen passenger cars, Volkswagen group sales India director Steffen Knapp says, “At Volkswagen, nurturing in-house talent and offering a diverse platform of enhanced learning is at the core of our brand philosophy. We are confident that Bishwajeet’s extensive experience in Marketing shall contribute to our growth in India.”

    Speaking on his appointment, Bishwajeet Samal mentions, “I am extremely overwhelmed to have returned to India and working in this dynamic market. I look forward towards further strengthening the brands’ presence in India.”

    Samal will be reporting to Steffen Knapp, director of Volkswagen passenger cars India.

  • Essence creates COO APAC role, ropes in new VP for client partner

    Essence creates COO APAC role, ropes in new VP for client partner

    MUMBAI: Essence, a global data and measurement-driven agency and part of GroupM, today announced the appointments of Kingshuk Mitra and Monica Bhatia to bolster its APAC leadership team. Earlier this year, Essence announced it had nearly doubled its APAC office count after opening operations in Bengaluru, Jakarta, Melbourne and Mumbai. The company is working towards an explosive regional growth.

    Mitra, former managing director of Maxus Philippines, has been named COO APAC, a newly created position. He has recently transitioned into his new role as Essence’s first COO of APAC, and will help APAC CEO Kyoko Matsushita, and wider regional leadership, to define and achieve the agency’s strategic priorities. He will also partner with client services and wider agency disciplines to ensure the delivery of consistent work quality to Essence clients, and to drive day-to-day operational effectiveness. Mitra will be based out of Essence’s Singapore office and will report to global COO Rich Mooney.

    “Essence has built its success on the back of operational excellence across verticals, which is an integral part of the agency’s DNA,” said Mitra. “The role in itself is very exciting to me, as it involves creating the backbone of the operational structure across various projects. This is pivotal as it brings the various disciplines under one umbrella. I look forward to joining the visionary team at Essence and being part of its ambitious growth plans in APAC.”

    Bhatia has joined as vice president, client partner to lead the Google business in APAC. In her new role, Bhatia will oversee the account across six APAC markets, including its Singapore-based hub. Specifically, she will be accountable for building and nurturing strong, collaborative client relationships across the region and driving account strategy. Bhatia will report into president and global client director Dave Marsey. Bhatia previously served as head of digital at Maxus, where she was charged with building the agency’s digital product proposition across 14 markets in APAC. Additionally, she led regional digital duties for key clients such as L’Oreal, Jetstar and Unicharm. Bhatia will be based out of Singapore and brings a wealth of experience in providing integrated media solutions to companies across FMCG, airlines, banking and food and beverage categories.

    “The media industry is changing so rapidly and in such a dynamic way,” said Bhatia. “It’s exciting to see how we can apply Essence’s data-led solutions to help clients achieve their marketing objectives. I’m excited to work with the best media practitioners in the industry who are committed to making advertising more valuable to the world.”

    “I’m thrilled to have Monica and Kingshuk join Essence. Their extensive leadership experience will further shape our operational excellence and data-driven solutions, both of which have a critical impact on our clients and their consumers,” said Essence global CEO Christian Juhl. “We are grateful for GroupM’s continued support, and appreciate the opportunity to leverage their talent mobility offerings from a cross-agency and geographic standpoint.”

    “Monica and Kingshuk are seasoned marketing leaders with extensive client and operations expertise, deep knowledge of the region as well as strong integrated media experience,” said Matsushita. “With their track record of success as digital leaders, they will be a tremendous asset as we continue to expand our footprint in APAC.”

  • Foodpanda appoints Anshul Khandelwal as head of marketing

    Foodpanda appoints Anshul Khandelwal as head of marketing

    MUMBAI: Online marketplace for food delivery, Foodpanda, has appointed Anshul Khandelwal as the new head of marketing to lead the brand’s creative and marketing mandates.

    While aligned to the organisation’s larger business objectives, Khandelwal will work closely with the Foodpanda leadership to assess and navigate through the food-tech ecosystem to create a positive impact in the ways the company reaches out to its stakeholders.

    The announcement is a part of the series of appointments in the senior leadership team at Foodpanda in a span of two months.

    In his previous stints, Khandelwal led the brand strategy and positioning and customer acquisition in addition to leading innovations across online marketing, creative development and brand activation.

    Foodpanda India CEO Pranay Jivrajka said, “With Anshul coming on board, we intend to leverage his varied experience in offline and online mediums to scale Foodpanda are marketing efforts nationally.” 

    Following the appointment of Anuj Sahai as the head of new initiatives and Gautam Balijepalli as the head of strategy, Khandelwal’s addition to the senior leadership is directed towards streamlining Foodpanda’s brand presence.

  • Tonic Worldwide gets Suraj Nambiar to lead South operations

    Tonic Worldwide gets Suraj Nambiar to lead South operations

    MUMBAI: Digital agency Tonic Worldwide has appointed Suraj Nambiar as its managing partner and media head in India. Nambiar brings with him close to two decades of experience in the digital industry across various platforms – creative, media, social and mobile.

    A specialist in building brands, along with high performance teams, Nambiar has played a key role in mentoring select start-ups. He will be leading the agency’s operations in South along with driving the national media division, based out of the Bangalore office.

    Prior to Tonic, Nambiar was at Wavemaker, where he was responsible for day to day operations of the digital division and managing key client relationships. He has worked with brands across many industries such as Tata Tea Global Beverages, Myntra, Arvind Brands, Enamor, Toyota, Amazon, Puma, Tanishq, 3M, Titan Industries, Mercedes Benz, DHL, Colgate, Nivea, Accenture, Kingfisher, Samsung, Make My Trip, Yahoo, Sony and Canon.

    Commenting on the appointment, Tonic Worldwide founder and CEO Chetan Asher said, “We are delighted to have Suraj on board with us. His vast experience of working across different ecosystems and his agency acumen would bring in better efficiency and increased creativity on the table. He also brings in the right kind of dynamism, an astute business sense and the ability to connect well with clients to drive the next phase of growth for our agency, especially in the southern market.”

    Talking about his new assignment, Nambiar said, “It’s exciting to work with such a dynamic team across creative, technology and media, layered with strong consumer data and insights. I look forward to being a part of this wonderful people-centric leadership team. Keeping in mind the ever-changing digital ecosystem I believe Tonic Worldwide is poised to deliver in a manner that more than exceeds our client’s expectations, lifting them towards the next level of excellence.”

  • Balesh Sharma becomes CEO of merged Vodafone-Idea entity

    Balesh Sharma becomes CEO of merged Vodafone-Idea entity

    MUMBAI: Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group have announced the proposed new leadership team of the merger between two major telecom operators of India – Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

    Balesh Sharma who is currently the chief operating officer of Vodafone India will become the CEO of the merged entity. He joined Vodafone in 2003 and over the years, has held several senior management positions in India and internationally.

    Idea Cellular CEO Kumar Mangalam Birla will become the non-executive chairman of the merged Company.

    Sashi Shankar, who is currently the chief marketing officer at Idea, will be responsible for marketing and brand strategy for the consumer business. 

    Anil Tandon and Rajat Mukherjee, currently head of technology and head of corporate affairs of Idea will be full time advisers to the merged business in their respective areas of expertise, working closely with Vishant Vora and P Balaji, respectively.

    The appointments will come into effect after the merger is completed.

    Vodafone Group Plc and Idea Cellular announced the proposed leadership team of the combined business, which will come into effect after the merger has been completed. This is in line with the original merger announcement of March 20, 2017, which said that the management team of the combined business would be confirmed prior to closing. 

    This is in line with the original merger announcement of 20 March 2017, which said that the management team of the combined business would be confirmed prior to closing.

    The existing leadership teams of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India will continue to manage their separate businesses and be accountable for each company’s operational performance until the merger becomes effective. 

    It is only upon completion of the merger that the two businesses will cease to operate as distinct and competing entities.

    Also Read:

    Vodafone to get new shine from Idea; merger on its last leg 

    Is India ready for the impact of AI on marketing?

    Vodafone brings back the Pug in AR

    The rising trend of coopetition among brands

  • Amagi names Deepakjit Singh as CEO

    Amagi names Deepakjit Singh as CEO

    MUMBAI: Amagi, , today announced that it has named Deepakjit Singh as its Chief Executive Officer. With nearly 30 years of experience in broadcast technology – including executive positions at Encompass, Ascent Media, Bharti Airtel and BT – Deepakjit has been brought in to increase the footprint of Amagi across the globe. He will be closely working with the team to continue and expedite its impressive growth trajectory, particularly in the U.S. where the company expects rapid growth this year following its official launch in the region in late 2017.

    “Deepakjit is one of the most well-regarded leaders in broadcast technology today,” said K.A. Srinivasan, Co-Founder of Amagi. “And, he will be a huge part of helping Amagi build upon its global success, especially within the U.S. and other rapidly evolving markets. We are really excited to have him on board.”

    Amagi is a first-of-its-kind, true end-to-end cloud playout and managed services provider. Amagi’s products, based on ‘in-the-cloud’ technology and infrastructure, make it possible for content providers to reach their consumers anywhere across the world and on any device of consumer’s choice without the upfront expense of satellite or fiber-based delivery. Content creators can use Amagi’s CLOUDPORT to easily spin up new channels and deliver them to any location, using the cloud, which delivers tremendous benefits in terms of worldwide manageability and cost savings.

    “Amagi’s technology is second to none,” said Deepakjit Singh. “Globally, there is a huge void in the media industry to provide distribution capabilities to content owners for both linear TV and non-linear video consumption market. With its technology, Amagi is perfectly positioned to fill this gap, delivering enviable business outcomes to broadcasters addressing their playout operations, management and monetization needs. I’m thrilled to spearhead Amagi’s growth and position into being the technology and service provider of choice for the new-age – anywhere, anytime – content consumer.”

    Prior to joining Amagi, Deepakjit served as Chief Innovation Officer at Encompass, and Managing Director for APAC region where he grew the company’s business exponentially. Earlier, Deepakjit served as VP of Sales and Marketing at Ascent Media following a stint as SVP at Bharti Airtel.

    Founded in 2008, Amagi offers cloud-managed broadcast services and targeted advertising for TV and OTT, enabling TV networks to launch, operate, and monetize channels anywhere in the world. Amagi now has deployments in more than 40 countries and delivers over 100 feeds to audiences worldwide. Clients include industry heavyweights such as Turner, VICELAND, Scripps Networks, Cinedigm and more.

    “The US is an incredibly attractive and competitive marketplace, and it augurs well that we have hit the ground running in the region, thus far. We expect over a third of our revenue to come from the US market in 2018, so continuing our growth here will be huge moving forward. And with Deepakjit now in the fold, we believe we are in an even better place to continue our success worldwide in 2018,” added Srinivasan.

    For more information about Amagi and its cloud-based broadcast solutions, visit www.amagi.com.

  • Mindshare elevates Ruchi Mathur & Saket Sinha

    Mindshare elevates Ruchi Mathur & Saket Sinha

    MUMBAI: Mindshare, India’s largest media agency, part of GroupM, has announced further organisational restructuring, in order to strengthen its focus on clients within each cluster, drive new capabilities and services, and strengthen operations. 

    The move is intended to help Mindshare not only improve and expand its offerings but also grow its presence in the industry, through a precision-based approach towards customer satisfaction.

    Ruchi Mathur has been instrumental in the growth of Mindshare North and her perseverance has led to the delight of clients, acquisition of several hero projects, and accolades from the industry. She has held pivotal roles leading the entire Mindshare PepsiCo team and collaborating with the larger advertising ecosystem to deliver great innovation for their brands. 

    In her expanded remit as senior vice president of client leadership, Mindshare North and East, Mathur will take on the responsibility of leading an additional region, and will be leading Mindshare North and East. Under her guidance, Mindshare North and East is looking forward to boosting its operational efficiency and delivering greater outcome-based business results for existing and future clients. She will also work closely with promising startups in the region that are exploring newer models of consumer engagement, by bringing together technology, insights and platforms as they grow. Mathur will work with the president of client leadership India Amin Lakhani.

    Saket Sinha will work with Mindshare South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar and lead m/Six India as senior vice president of client leadership, focusing exclusively on growing and leading the brand. Under Sinha’s leadership m/Six in the last one year has acquired key clients across a variety of consumer product categories. M/Six today has offices in three zones – west, south and north.

    Speaking on this development, Kumar says, “Ruchi and Saket are both dynamic leaders with strong networks in the market, as well as with consumers and clients. We are very excited with the opportunities across the landscape and we are sure that the army of leadership we have in the organisation will produce great results to our clients and therefore a successful journey for us.”