Category: People

Ad Club new committee appointed

MUMBAI: At the recently concluded annual general meeting, The Advertising Club unanimously elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak as its President for the second consecutive term.

The new managing committee is as follows:

• President| Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

• Vice President| Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

• Secretary | Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group

• Jt. Secretary | Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.

• Treasurer| Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

• Office Bearer | Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia Ltd.

• Member |Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group

• Member | Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann

Worldgroup

• Member | Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group | DB Corp Ltd.

• Member | Ramesh Narayan, Managing Director, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

• Member | Vikas Khanchandani, Chief Business Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited

• Member | Viral Jani, Head TV Partnerships, Twitter India

• Co-opted Member | Partho Dasgupta, CEO, Broadcast Audience Research Council

• Co-opted Member | Punitha Arumugam, Director, Agency Business, India and South East Asia, Google India Pvt. Ltd.

• Co-opted Member | Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited

• Immediate Past President | Pratap Bose, Founder, Social Street

Expressing his pleasure at his re-election, Nayak said, “I am extremely honored & humbled at the love bestowed upon me by the industry. I hope to continue working even more vigorously to realize The Ad Club’s agenda of acting as a catalyst in developing our vibrant and dynamic industry.”

Publicis Worldwide CEO South Asia and AAAI president Nakul Chopra welcomed the announcement saying, “I am delighted that Raj has been elected President Ad Club for another term. A dear friend, a respected colleague – Raj has always worked for the good of the industry via various forums. I look forward to working closely with him to further the already strong relationship between The Ad Club and AAAI.”

Zee MD and CEO and IBF president Punit Goenka added, “I am most certain that with his rich experience, acumen and industry knowledge, Raj will continue to take ‘The Advertising Club’ to greater heights. The very fact that he is re-elected, speaks abundantly about his contribution made to the club and to the industry. Over the last year, the club has certainly been a catalyst in developing the industry and with its interactive platforms and properties, it has served as a brilliant platform for industry professionals to interact and exchange thoughts. I wish Raj all the success in this role.”

Showing his excitement about the announcement, K Swamy BBDO Chairman,MD and IAA president India chapter, IAA Global Senior Vice President Srinivasan Swamy said, “I was delighted to hear that Raj was reelected to lead The Advertising Club. His passion and energy levels are infective. He has brought in many senior names‎ to join the committee and I eagerly look forward to next phase of accelerated growth for the Club under his stewardship.”

Industry stalwart Madison world chairman Sam Balsara also expressed his pleasure by saying, “I am delighted that Raj has agreed to continue as The Ad Club President. This augurs well for the members of the advertising, media and marketing community in general and members of The Ad Club in particular. Raj is everybody’s favorite person and is uniquely positioned to discharge this onerous responsibility which he has kindly agreed to, despite his hectic and I am sure taxing work schedule”.

Industry veteran GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas commented, “Its great news for the industry that Raj Nayak has been re-elected President of The Advertising Club. Raj brings a lot of style and substance to whatever he does. His boundless energy, passion and commitment is so amazing. I wish him the very best and look forward to another great year with him at the helm”.

September 19, 2016
GCPL’s Sunil Kataria is ISA’s new chairman

MUMBAI: The newly elected executive council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has recently elected Godrej Consumer Products SAARC and India -business head Sunil Kataria as the chairman.

On his election, Kataria said, “Our focus would be to deliver the desired benefit to the advertisers and other stakeholders. I look forward to working with all and make this a credible, meaningful and business impacting ecosystem.”

Kataria joined GCPL in 2011 to oversee the sales and marketing organisation for the India and SAARC businesses. He has diverse work experience across FMCG and consumer services sectors in sales, marketing and business. He had a stint of 12 years at Marico Industries.

Other members of the Executive Council are as follows:

Atul Agrawal, SVP-Corporate Affairs, Group Corporate Communications, Tata Services
Anuradha Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico
Abraham Mathew Alapatt, President & Group Head-Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India)
Narendra Ambwani, Director, Agro Tech Foods
Ajoy H Chawla, Sr. VP, Chief Strategy Officer, Titan Company
Paulomi Dhawan, Advisor, Raymond
Sonali Dhawan, Brand Director, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care
Chandru Kalro, Managing Director, TTK Prestige
Sandeep Kataria, Director – Commercial, Vodafone India
Sandeep Kaul, Divisional Chief Executive – India Tobacco Division, ITC
Sandeep Kohli, Executive Director – Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever
Beena Koshy, Executive VPr, Advertising, Digital & Branding, Bajaj Electrical
Bharat V Patel, Independent Director, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company
Prashant Richard Peres, Director Marketing Chocolate, India, Mondelez India Foods
Ramakrishnan Ramamurthi, Vice-Chairman, Joint MD & Group CEO, Polycab Wires
Samardeep Sunil Subandh, Chief Marketing Officer, Flipkart
Amit Tiwari, Director, Philips India
Brahm Vasudeva, Chairman, Hawkins Cookers

ISA has advertiser members from across industries who contribute to approximately over two-thirds of the annual national non-governmental ad spends. ISA played a significant role in the formation of BARC and is closely partnering with it towards advertisers getting robust and credible data.

September 16, 2016
GCPL’s Sunil Kataria is ISA’s new chairman

MUMBAI: The newly elected executive council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has recently elected Godrej Consumer Products SAARC and India -business head Sunil Kataria as the chairman.

On his election, Kataria said, “Our focus would be to deliver the desired benefit to the advertisers and other stakeholders. I look forward to working with all and make this a credible, meaningful and business impacting ecosystem.”

Kataria joined GCPL in 2011 to oversee the sales and marketing organisation for the India and SAARC businesses. He has diverse work experience across FMCG and consumer services sectors in sales, marketing and business. He had a stint of 12 years at Marico Industries.

Other members of the Executive Council are as follows:

Atul Agrawal, SVP-Corporate Affairs, Group Corporate Communications, Tata Services
Anuradha Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico
Abraham Mathew Alapatt, President & Group Head-Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India)
Narendra Ambwani, Director, Agro Tech Foods
Ajoy H Chawla, Sr. VP, Chief Strategy Officer, Titan Company
Paulomi Dhawan, Advisor, Raymond
Sonali Dhawan, Brand Director, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care
Chandru Kalro, Managing Director, TTK Prestige
Sandeep Kataria, Director – Commercial, Vodafone India
Sandeep Kaul, Divisional Chief Executive – India Tobacco Division, ITC
Sandeep Kohli, Executive Director – Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever
Beena Koshy, Executive VPr, Advertising, Digital & Branding, Bajaj Electrical
Bharat V Patel, Independent Director, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company
Prashant Richard Peres, Director Marketing Chocolate, India, Mondelez India Foods
Ramakrishnan Ramamurthi, Vice-Chairman, Joint MD & Group CEO, Polycab Wires
Samardeep Sunil Subandh, Chief Marketing Officer, Flipkart
Amit Tiwari, Director, Philips India
Brahm Vasudeva, Chairman, Hawkins Cookers

ISA has advertiser members from across industries who contribute to approximately over two-thirds of the annual national non-governmental ad spends. ISA played a significant role in the formation of BARC and is closely partnering with it towards advertisers getting robust and credible data.

September 16, 2016
Raj Nayak re-elected Advertising Club president

MUMBAI: At the annual general meeting of The Advertising Club held in Mumbai today, the members unanimously re-elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak, as its president. Raj had replaced The Social Street chairman and co-founder Pratap Bose on 16 September last year.

Over the past year, Raj has injected new dynamism into the Ad Club. A top notch sales professional, he has expanded the membership of the Club by initiating a drive last year which saw many a fence sitter, taking up it full time membership. Its management committee members say that it has had financially the most successful year under his stewardship. Hence, his re-election was unopposed and a bit of no-brainer.

The CEO of Viacom18 Hindi GEC Colors has had strong links with industry initiatives over the past few years. He has been associated with several industry bodies right from the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the International Advertising Association.

September 16, 2016
Raj Nayak re-elected Advertising Club president

MUMBAI: At the annual general meeting of The Advertising Club held in Mumbai today, the members unanimously re-elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak, as its president. Raj had replaced The Social Street chairman and co-founder Pratap Bose on 16 September last year.

Over the past year, Raj has injected new dynamism into the Ad Club. A top notch sales professional, he has expanded the membership of the Club by initiating a drive last year which saw many a fence sitter, taking up it full time membership. Its management committee members say that it has had financially the most successful year under his stewardship. Hence, his re-election was unopposed and a bit of no-brainer.

The CEO of Viacom18 Hindi GEC Colors has had strong links with industry initiatives over the past few years. He has been associated with several industry bodies right from the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the International Advertising Association.

September 16, 2016
OnePlus exec Karan Sarin joins Razorpay as CMO

MUMBAI: Online payments platform Razorpay has appointed Karan Sarin as the chief marketing officer. Sarin, who most recently served as the Head of Marketing for OnePlus India, will now focus on building Razorpay’s brand, nationally & globally to generate customer demand, planning strategic events and designing the company’s communication strategy.

“As we grow and expand our technological footing with multiple stakeholders across the ecosystem, I’m confident that Karan’s expertise, will be invaluable. Karan has achieved many milestones in his career and has been instrumental in building some of the leading startup brands in India. I’m thrilled Karan will be joining our company to play a prominent role in leading the journey,” said Razorpay CEO and co-founder Harshil Mathur.

“Razorpay’s journey is inspiring, and it’s amazing to see how the company has emerged to be one of leading Indian fintech startups in such a short period. I am happy to be a part of this growth story. There are no gold-standards when it comes to B2B marketing in India. At Razorpay, we want to lead and set a high benchmark for B2B marketing and that’s the most exciting part about my new role”, said Sarin.

Razorpay is the second India focused company to be selected to the Y Combinator. Razorpay has been rapidly growing since its inception in 2014, with over 10,000 merchants including the likes of Videocon, Nykaa, Craftsvilla, Zerodha, NestAway, Udacity and Chai Point among others. Razorpay’s other investors include MasterCard, Tiger Global, and Matrix Partners.

September 16, 2016
OnePlus exec Karan Sarin joins Razorpay as CMO

MUMBAI: Online payments platform Razorpay has appointed Karan Sarin as the chief marketing officer. Sarin, who most recently served as the Head of Marketing for OnePlus India, will now focus on building Razorpay’s brand, nationally & globally to generate customer demand, planning strategic events and designing the company’s communication strategy.

“As we grow and expand our technological footing with multiple stakeholders across the ecosystem, I’m confident that Karan’s expertise, will be invaluable. Karan has achieved many milestones in his career and has been instrumental in building some of the leading startup brands in India. I’m thrilled Karan will be joining our company to play a prominent role in leading the journey,” said Razorpay CEO and co-founder Harshil Mathur.

“Razorpay’s journey is inspiring, and it’s amazing to see how the company has emerged to be one of leading Indian fintech startups in such a short period. I am happy to be a part of this growth story. There are no gold-standards when it comes to B2B marketing in India. At Razorpay, we want to lead and set a high benchmark for B2B marketing and that’s the most exciting part about my new role”, said Sarin.

Razorpay is the second India focused company to be selected to the Y Combinator. Razorpay has been rapidly growing since its inception in 2014, with over 10,000 merchants including the likes of Videocon, Nykaa, Craftsvilla, Zerodha, NestAway, Udacity and Chai Point among others. Razorpay’s other investors include MasterCard, Tiger Global, and Matrix Partners.

September 16, 2016
Joy Mohanty to head creative for Lowe Lintas, North & East

MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas has appointed Joy Mohanty as regional president – North & East. Mohanty will lead the creative function for the Delhi and Kolkata offices of Lowe Lintas reporting to CCO Arun Iyer.

In a career spanning 23 years, Joy has worked with leading agencies in India. His last assignment was as National Creative Director, Publicis Capital, from where he moves after over 11 years. His portfolio includes work for leading clients like Maruti Suzuki Corporate, Makemytrip, Maggi, Nescafe Sunrise, Nestle Every Day, Milkmaid, Intex, Subway, Spicejet, Swift, Apollo Tyres, Suzuki Motorcycles, LG Home Appliances and others.

Welcoming Mohanty to the agency, Arun Iyer said, “Lowe Lintas Delhi has been buzzing with some spectacular work in the recent past. Having someone like Joy Mohanty lead and drive the creative function, will further consolidate our reputation as being the most creative agency in Delhi, as also to push forward the creative agenda in Kolkata. We welcome him wholeheartedly and look forward to working closely with him to usher in an even stronger creative culture in these 2 offices of Lowe Lintas.”

Prior to Publicis Capital, Joy was with Contract Advertising as Creative Director. Preceding that he worked as Creative Director, Enterprise Nexus and was also at Leo Burnett as Associate Creative Director. He handled brands like LML Motorcycles, Opel Corsa, Chevrolet Optra, 8PM Whisky, Thums Up, Limca, Maaza, Dabur Chyawanprash, Somany Tiles, Dabur Honey, Escotel Mobile, etc.

Speaking about his new role at Lowe Lintas, Mohanty added: “It’s a great feeling to be part of an institution like Lowe Lintas. I have admired their work over the years. It will be an honour for me to add energy and momentum to a body of work already making waves. I can’t wait to get started.”

September 14, 2016
Joy Mohanty to head creative for Lowe Lintas, North & East

MUMBAI: Lowe Lintas has appointed Joy Mohanty as regional president – North & East. Mohanty will lead the creative function for the Delhi and Kolkata offices of Lowe Lintas reporting to CCO Arun Iyer.

In a career spanning 23 years, Joy has worked with leading agencies in India. His last assignment was as National Creative Director, Publicis Capital, from where he moves after over 11 years. His portfolio includes work for leading clients like Maruti Suzuki Corporate, Makemytrip, Maggi, Nescafe Sunrise, Nestle Every Day, Milkmaid, Intex, Subway, Spicejet, Swift, Apollo Tyres, Suzuki Motorcycles, LG Home Appliances and others.

Welcoming Mohanty to the agency, Arun Iyer said, “Lowe Lintas Delhi has been buzzing with some spectacular work in the recent past. Having someone like Joy Mohanty lead and drive the creative function, will further consolidate our reputation as being the most creative agency in Delhi, as also to push forward the creative agenda in Kolkata. We welcome him wholeheartedly and look forward to working closely with him to usher in an even stronger creative culture in these 2 offices of Lowe Lintas.”

Prior to Publicis Capital, Joy was with Contract Advertising as Creative Director. Preceding that he worked as Creative Director, Enterprise Nexus and was also at Leo Burnett as Associate Creative Director. He handled brands like LML Motorcycles, Opel Corsa, Chevrolet Optra, 8PM Whisky, Thums Up, Limca, Maaza, Dabur Chyawanprash, Somany Tiles, Dabur Honey, Escotel Mobile, etc.

Speaking about his new role at Lowe Lintas, Mohanty added: “It’s a great feeling to be part of an institution like Lowe Lintas. I have admired their work over the years. It will be an honour for me to add energy and momentum to a body of work already making waves. I can’t wait to get started.”

September 14, 2016
Art forms influence advertising: FCB Ulka’s new NCD Mahendra Bhagat

MUMBAI: FCB Ulka Group has appointed Mahendra Bhagat as the national creative director. Bhagat will be based in Bengaluru and will support all FCB Ulka’s south India offices. Mahendra was earlier with JWT Mumbai as the vice president and creative head.

FCB Ulka CEO Nitin Karkare said, “Mahendra is a heady mix of creative, business acumen [he headed an office for a few years] and team building”.

FCB Ulka CCO Swati Bhattacharya said, “By his own admission, Advertising is his first love and he couldn’t stay away from it too long. Mahendra is a powerhouse of talent”.

Speaking on his new role, Bhagat said, “Advertising has always been influenced by other art forms, from cinema, literature, theatre, folk art to paintings, installations etc…in my second innings I would like to bring in some new practices that I followed while exploring art in its pure form”.

In his last assignment, he created some landmark work for brands like Times of India, Kellogs, Rin, Nakshatra Jewelry and Godrej Appliances amongst others. Before JWT, Mahendra has worked in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi with SSC & B, Enterprise, Clarion and Lintas, providing creative partnership to giants like Titan, ITC and Bajaj Auto. He has many national and international awards to his credit including Cannes, Clio, New York Festival, London Festival as well as AME (Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness) and has been on the jury of most prestigious Advertising festivals including the New York Festival.

September 12, 2016