Category: People

Rajesh Ghatge is new Indigo CEO

MUMBAI: Rajesh Ghatge has joined as the chief executive officer of the digital agency Indigo Consulting of the Leo Burnett Group to lead the 300-plus employees across Indigo Consulting and Indigo iStrat. Based out of the Mumbai office, he will report to Leo Burnett south Asia CEO South Asia Saurabh Verma.

Verma said: “We wanted a leader who can create a new curve; Rajesh brings with him the energy, the passion and the drive to create a new destiny for Indigo Consulting. My brief to him is to make us the most respected digital agency in the country, bar none.”

Ghatge said, “Driving effective consumer engagement on omnipresent digital touch-points is a function of technology, content, analytics and the ability to execute flawlessly in an ‘always on’ mode. Using data and platforms to create impactful and relevant experiences has been my ongoing work. Indigo Consulting, built on a deep foundation of technology has emerged as a leading digital agency.”

Having begun his career in marketing and sales in the FMCG and Pharma sectors in 1997, Ghatge co-promoted Bates CHI & Sercon (erstwhile Sercon). Under his leadership, the company leveraged technology and digital for activation marketing and demand generation and grew to become a top-ranked agency in India and Singapore. Bates CHI & Sercon also gathered prestigious laurels such as the ‘Best Brand Promotion Agency’ (ET), the B2B Marketing Award (London) and DMA (Asia and India).

Ghatge has extensive knowledge and experience in brand activation, digital and retail marketing, web and app-enabled products and services and the training domain. He led award-winning campaigns for large brands like P&G, Colgate, Oracle, Nokia, Dell and Castrol. An alumnus of the Institute of Rural Management in Anand, he has an MBA degree.

November 15, 2016
Grey Group’s Nirvik Singh gets expanded role

MUMBAI: Grey Group Asia Pacific’s chairman and CEO Nirvik Singh has got an additional role. Additionally, Singh will also oversee the company’s business in the Middle East and Africa. In his newly elevated role, he will continue to work closely with Grey Group chairman and CEO Jim Heekin and Grey Group global president Michael Houston.

Under his leadership, Grey Group APAC was featured among the leading communications networks and his trademark business acquisitions has been instrumental in the development of Grey’s digital and shopper offerings in the region. He has played a monumental role in the growth and development of the network’s comprehensive offerings across Asia.

“Nirvik has been a prime mover in our dynamic growth and development in Asia. He has been relentless in building our geographic footprint with premier acquisitions, accelerating our offerings in a host of disciplines including digital and shopper and raising the creative bar. He has won every major professional award in Asia. I know he will bring the same single-minded dedication and achievement to his added responsibilities,” said Heekin.

Singh is a 27-year industry veteran of the global advertising and marketing agency headquartered in New York City. His highly-regarded business acumen has led to numerous additions to Grey network including; RC&M (Rural Communications & Marketing services) in India, Yolk (Interactive & Digital media network) in Singapore, DPI (Shopper), Star Echo (Marketing Services) and ArtM (Integrated Communications) in China, Vinyl-I (Creative Digital agency) in South Korea and nudeJEH (Advertising & Digital agency) in Thailand, etc.

November 7, 2016
Grey Group’s Nirvik Singh gets expanded role

MUMBAI: Grey Group Asia Pacific’s chairman and CEO Nirvik Singh has got an additional role. Additionally, Singh will also oversee the company’s business in the Middle East and Africa. In his newly elevated role, he will continue to work closely with Grey Group chairman and CEO Jim Heekin and Grey Group global president Michael Houston.

Under his leadership, Grey Group APAC was featured among the leading communications networks and his trademark business acquisitions has been instrumental in the development of Grey’s digital and shopper offerings in the region. He has played a monumental role in the growth and development of the network’s comprehensive offerings across Asia.

“Nirvik has been a prime mover in our dynamic growth and development in Asia. He has been relentless in building our geographic footprint with premier acquisitions, accelerating our offerings in a host of disciplines including digital and shopper and raising the creative bar. He has won every major professional award in Asia. I know he will bring the same single-minded dedication and achievement to his added responsibilities,” said Heekin.

Singh is a 27-year industry veteran of the global advertising and marketing agency headquartered in New York City. His highly-regarded business acumen has led to numerous additions to Grey network including; RC&M (Rural Communications & Marketing services) in India, Yolk (Interactive & Digital media network) in Singapore, DPI (Shopper), Star Echo (Marketing Services) and ArtM (Integrated Communications) in China, Vinyl-I (Creative Digital agency) in South Korea and nudeJEH (Advertising & Digital agency) in Thailand, etc.

November 7, 2016
iProspect India appoints Soham Bhagnari as AVP – Business Development

MUMBAI: iProspect India has appointed Soham Bhagnari as the associate vice-president (AVP) – business development. He will drive business expansion across the West region and operate out of Mumbai, reporting into iProspect India operations EVP Brijesh Munyal. He will be supported by AVP for new business Krishna Mothey from Mumbai.

Prior to iProspect India, Bhagnari has worked with Clique for five years as Director – Digital and Group M’s Mindshare in Mumbai. Before shifting base to Mumbai, he has spent the first four years of his career in Dubai, with stints at Wunderman and the Omnicom Group. He has worked across varied sectors such as banking, education, auto, entertainment, luggage and web publications in the past.

iProspect India CEO Vivek Bhargava said, “Soham’s poised to play an integral role in our overall business growth plans and his high proficiency is sure to add immense value to the organisation. We’re geared up to scale, especially in terms of the numbers and nature of our clientele – this is the start of exciting times ahead.”

“We’ve started taking steps in the right direction by building and investing in capabilities like video story-telling, content and creative to complement our existing performance and media buying capabilities. The larger picture is to make it a cornerstone of our growth! Post spending over 10 years in various facets of a continuously evolving medium, I understand the demands of the industry and its penchant for change,” Bhagnari added.

November 7, 2016
iProspect India appoints Soham Bhagnari as AVP – Business Development

MUMBAI: iProspect India has appointed Soham Bhagnari as the associate vice-president (AVP) – business development. He will drive business expansion across the West region and operate out of Mumbai, reporting into iProspect India operations EVP Brijesh Munyal. He will be supported by AVP for new business Krishna Mothey from Mumbai.

Prior to iProspect India, Bhagnari has worked with Clique for five years as Director – Digital and Group M’s Mindshare in Mumbai. Before shifting base to Mumbai, he has spent the first four years of his career in Dubai, with stints at Wunderman and the Omnicom Group. He has worked across varied sectors such as banking, education, auto, entertainment, luggage and web publications in the past.

iProspect India CEO Vivek Bhargava said, “Soham’s poised to play an integral role in our overall business growth plans and his high proficiency is sure to add immense value to the organisation. We’re geared up to scale, especially in terms of the numbers and nature of our clientele – this is the start of exciting times ahead.”

“We’ve started taking steps in the right direction by building and investing in capabilities like video story-telling, content and creative to complement our existing performance and media buying capabilities. The larger picture is to make it a cornerstone of our growth! Post spending over 10 years in various facets of a continuously evolving medium, I understand the demands of the industry and its penchant for change,” Bhagnari added.

November 7, 2016
Dentsu India appoints Indrajeet Mookerjee as EVP

MUMBAI: Dentsu India has appointed Indrajeet Mookerjee as the executive vice-president.

Mookerjee has spent two decades in the communication business having worked in some of the leading agencies including Lowe Lintas, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, Rediffusion Young & Rubicam and TBWA in India and Indonesia. In his last role, he was the managing director of Soho Square, Indonesia – part of the Ogilvy group.

Some of the marquee brands he has worked on are — Unilever, Nestle, Mondelez, Heinz, Adani Wilmar, Arvind Brands, Cathay Pacific, Himalaya Herbal, Sab Miller, Suntory Garuda and L’Oreal.

Dentsu India CEO Simi Sabhaney said, “Indrajeet’s endeavour would be to add value to the businesses in his portfolio, to consolidate relationships and nurture talent.”

Mookerjee added, “These are exiting times in the communication business in India with rules being re-written and Dentsu India has been in the forefront.”

November 2, 2016
Dentsu India appoints Indrajeet Mookerjee as EVP

MUMBAI: Dentsu India has appointed Indrajeet Mookerjee as the executive vice-president.

Mookerjee has spent two decades in the communication business having worked in some of the leading agencies including Lowe Lintas, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, Rediffusion Young & Rubicam and TBWA in India and Indonesia. In his last role, he was the managing director of Soho Square, Indonesia – part of the Ogilvy group.

Some of the marquee brands he has worked on are — Unilever, Nestle, Mondelez, Heinz, Adani Wilmar, Arvind Brands, Cathay Pacific, Himalaya Herbal, Sab Miller, Suntory Garuda and L’Oreal.

Dentsu India CEO Simi Sabhaney said, “Indrajeet’s endeavour would be to add value to the businesses in his portfolio, to consolidate relationships and nurture talent.”

Mookerjee added, “These are exiting times in the communication business in India with rules being re-written and Dentsu India has been in the forefront.”

November 2, 2016
Havas appoints Mediacom’s Karl Wu as Greater China CEO

MUMBAI: Havas Media Group has appointed media and marketing specialist, Karl Wu, as the CEO for Greater China. Based in Beijing, Wu will be responsible for Havas’s brands — Havas Media and Arena Media, as well as Havas Group pure player agencies Socialyse, Affiperf, Ecselis and Mobext. The media group currently has five offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Wu joins the agency with an impressive track record in integrated marketing and advertising space, having held senior roles both on the agency and the client side. He was most recently the COO of Mediacom China and concurrently the Asia Pacific Managing Director of one of the agency’s largest clients – Volkswagen.

Prior to joining Mediacom, Wu led Digital Marketing for Nokia as Marketing Director for Asia Pacific as well as China. He has also held senior positions at Dentsu Aegis Media and Publicis Vivaki, and his experience on the brand side extends to blue chip companies such as Intel and NBA in China, and Bell Canada in Toronto Canada.

Wu will report to the Global Executive Committee represented by Christophe Cases, who will relinquish his role as CEO of Greater China but continue to be based in China in his global role as Deputy Global Managing Director of Havas Media Group.

Cases said, “We are delighted to have Karl as CEO for Greater China. He is a very important hire for us and integral to our ambition for this market as we strengthen our client-centred collaborative model. Karl brings with him an international mindset and deep knowledge of not only China market but Asia Pacific as a whole. His experience in leadership roles both on the agency and the client side will be a definite asset as we move our business to next level of growth.”

Wu said, “I have been on both sides of the table, and I can see the changes needed for our industry to deliver better customer value. Havas Group not only has the vision and strategy but has also started executing to that vision. The Havas Village integration is an example of the many initiatives that will ultimately re-shape our industry. I am excited about what the future holds and looking forward to my new role.”

October 28, 2016
Havas appoints Mediacom’s Karl Wu as Greater China CEO

MUMBAI: Havas Media Group has appointed media and marketing specialist, Karl Wu, as the CEO for Greater China. Based in Beijing, Wu will be responsible for Havas’s brands — Havas Media and Arena Media, as well as Havas Group pure player agencies Socialyse, Affiperf, Ecselis and Mobext. The media group currently has five offices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Wu joins the agency with an impressive track record in integrated marketing and advertising space, having held senior roles both on the agency and the client side. He was most recently the COO of Mediacom China and concurrently the Asia Pacific Managing Director of one of the agency’s largest clients – Volkswagen.

Prior to joining Mediacom, Wu led Digital Marketing for Nokia as Marketing Director for Asia Pacific as well as China. He has also held senior positions at Dentsu Aegis Media and Publicis Vivaki, and his experience on the brand side extends to blue chip companies such as Intel and NBA in China, and Bell Canada in Toronto Canada.

Wu will report to the Global Executive Committee represented by Christophe Cases, who will relinquish his role as CEO of Greater China but continue to be based in China in his global role as Deputy Global Managing Director of Havas Media Group.

Cases said, “We are delighted to have Karl as CEO for Greater China. He is a very important hire for us and integral to our ambition for this market as we strengthen our client-centred collaborative model. Karl brings with him an international mindset and deep knowledge of not only China market but Asia Pacific as a whole. His experience in leadership roles both on the agency and the client side will be a definite asset as we move our business to next level of growth.”

Wu said, “I have been on both sides of the table, and I can see the changes needed for our industry to deliver better customer value. Havas Group not only has the vision and strategy but has also started executing to that vision. The Havas Village integration is an example of the many initiatives that will ultimately re-shape our industry. I am excited about what the future holds and looking forward to my new role.”

October 28, 2016
BTVi unveils new brand positioning

MUMBAI: BTVi has unveiled its new positioning, #OpinionsThatCount, aimed at impacting the opinions of the influencers. With this, BTVi will be the voice and choice of the influential. An integrated campaign will be launched primarily catering to influencers, key decision makers and opinion makers.

This campaign charts out an independent path for the brand reinforcing its stance post their partnership with Reuters, which was announced earlier this month, by bringing financial and business news from across the globe to Indian viewers.

“This campaign represents our strong stand focusing on influencing the think tanks of the country who are trend setters and key drivers of the economy. BTVi aims to provide most credible information to its viewers. Through this campaign, the channel continues to reach out to recognized authorities of their fields, whose thoughts and opinions matter to the millions who follow them,” said BTVi chief operating officer Monica Tata.

BTVi intends to be the ‘voice of transforming India’. Not losing sight from current affairs, it will cover positive stories that have made the country proud. The channel will continue to evolve with what is required and will be at the top of news reporting. Programming for the channel will be tweaked to be more glocal (global+local).

It will also have strong digital connect with the viewers with an integrated newsroom.

The team from BTVi will continue to provide in-depth knowledge and expertise on various sectors. Apart from Tata on board, it has Siddharth Zarabi as the editorial editor, Swati Khandelwal as the national editor, anchor and chief of bureau Mumbai at BTVI.

After the recent partnership, the channel is strengthening its leadership position by delivering more value to increasingly sophisticated business audience through credible business news content on a real time basis.

The programming line-up will cater to global and domestic influencers, business leaders and government-stakeholders.

List of driver shows on BTVi:

Dealing Room (Weekdays 8:00 – 9:30) – Get all the crucial market cues & trade calls as Ashu Dutt & Abha Bakaya take you into the all-important market opening.

Market Guru (Weekdays 09:30 – 10:00) – The very cream of market veterans with decades of street cred share their invaluable perspective and analysis.

The Trading Day (Weekdays 14:30 – 15:30) – Countdown tracks the breaking business news and top stories in the lead-up to the closing of markets.

E-Inc (Wednesday 20:30 – 21:00) – A path-breaking show that charts the twists and turns in e-commerce. Find out what it takes to go from start-up to the next big success story.

The Auto Show (Thursday 22:30 – 23:00) – Get up to speed with the latest in the auto mobile world; hear from leading auto industry voices, review cars and bikes. We also address consumer concerns.

October 25, 2016