ITV

Category: People

  • Cheil India appoints Ogilvy Singapore’s Sonal Narain as chief strategy officer

    Cheil India appoints Ogilvy Singapore’s Sonal Narain as chief strategy officer

    MUMBAI: Integrated marketing solutions agency Cheil India has appointed Sonal Narain as its chief strategy officer.

     

    Narain comes to Cheil from Ogilvy Singapore, where she was head of planning. Additionally, she is also head of Ogilvy Change (the firm’s Behavioural Sciences practice).

     

    She will be based in Cheil’s Gurgaon office, which is the regional headquarters for South-West Asia.

     

    At Ogilvy, she has been driving an organisation-wide agenda for effectiveness that has resulted in over 20 wins at all major awards at local, regional and international shows. She was also awarded Planner of the Year 2014 in Singapore.

     

    Cheil South-West Asia group president Shiv Sethuraman said, “Sonal understands the intersection between media, technology and popular culture and has done impressive work in areas far beyond the limits of conventional advertising. That is what makes her the perfect choice to lead Cheil India’s planning and strategy function. We’re aiming to transition into an agency that is ahead of the curve and Sonal will be a big part of that. She understands technology but at the core, it’s her understanding of human behaviour and her focus on effectiveness that set her apart.”

     

    Narain added, “The opportunity to marry human insight with technology and create fundamental change only comes along once in a while and few agencies are as well placed to take advantage of this as Cheil India is. As a dynamic and young organisation that’s shown steady growth in both size and reputation, Cheil seeks to up the ante and I’m hugely excited to be part of that.” 

  • United Spirits appoints Abanti Sankaranarayanan as business head

    United Spirits appoints Abanti Sankaranarayanan as business head

    MUMBAI: Spirits company United Spirits Limited (USL), a subsidiary of Diageo, has roped in Abanti Sankaranarayanan as business head for luxury and corporate relations, India.

     

    With this move, Sankaranarayanan joins the executive committee of USL. With over 20 years in the consumer industry, she has been managing director of Diageo India since July 2012, leading Diageo’s business mandate for international spirits in India. Under her leadership, Diageo’s brand portfolio in India delivered strong double-digit growth and high market share gains coupled with robust equity results.

     

    USL MD & CEO Anand Kripalu said, “We are delighted to have a leader of Abanti’s talent and global caliber to lead our luxury portfolio and drive our corporate relations efforts in India. Her extensive leadership experience and expertise will add strong momentum to the growth of USL’s business in India.”

     

    A new luxury unit is being set up in USL for the premium brands of the portfolio with the objective of maintaining Diageo’s premium brand leadership. Creating a center of luxury excellence will provide focus behind the fastest growing segment of the Indian alcobev market. The luxury business will encompass Diageo’s iconic brands such as Johnnie Walker, Ciroc and the Single Malts.

     

    In addition, Sankaranarayanan will lead the new corporate relations function that has been set up to drive USL towards strong leadership and execution on public policy, regulatory, tax and trade affairs, alcohol policy, corporate reputation & brand, and sustainability & responsibility.  In this role, Sankaranarayanan will build key stakeholder relationships with regulators, government, industry bodies, NGO partners and relevant members of civil society.

     

    Sankaranarayanan said, “I am delighted to take up this new position at USL as we continue the journey to make USL the most trusted and respected consumer goods company in India.”

  • Nielsen names Johnson as head of reach solutions in SE Asia, N Asia & Pacific

    Nielsen names Johnson as head of reach solutions in SE Asia, N Asia & Pacific

    MUMBAI: Global performance management company Nielsen, has appointed Craig Johnson to head up its Reach portfolio in Southeast Asia, North Asia and Pacific, including television audience measurement (TAM), radio audience measurement (RAM), Consumer & Media View and advertising measurement (AIS) with immediate effect.

     

    Prior to joining Nielsen in 2006, Johnson spent a number of years working for one of Australia’s national broadcast media owners. During his time with Nielsen he has worked with a broad cross-section of clients around the world including television and radio broadcasters, media agencies, brands and industry bodies. Most recently he has been leading Nielsen’s Watch business in South Africa.

     

    Johnson will relocate to Sydney, Australia.

     

    In his new role, Johnson will focus on driving Nielsen’s leadership in the areas of TAM, RAM, Consumer & Media View and AIS. With a number of major media industry tenders currently under consideration in key markets such as Singapore, Johnson’s extensive TAM experience and expertise will be invaluable in ensuring Nielsen’s ongoing success.

     

    Johnson said, “I am truly excited to be taking on this new opportunity with Nielsen. Rapidly evolving media habits are bringing about significant shifts in how we measure media consumption, and I look forward to leveraging Nielsen’s world-class audience measurement solutions to help our clients in this part of the world to understand and harness these shifts.”

  • Eros names Prem Parameswaran as group CFO & president – North America

    Eros names Prem Parameswaran as group CFO & president – North America

    MUMBAI: Prem Parameswaran has been appointed as the group chief financial officer of Eros International, Plc and president – North America, a newly created position.

     

    Parameswaran will succeed Andrew Heffernan as group CFO, who will be taking a leave of absence from the company in June.

     

    Parameswaran joins Eros with over 23 years of experience in investment banking, advising clients in the global telecommunications, media and technology sector, including on mergers and acquisitions and public and private equity and debt financing.

     

    Eros executive chairman Kishore Lulla said, “Our company is at an important point in its growth trajectory with the increasing popularity of Indian entertainment content, evolution of technology and dynamic transformation of the Indian economy underway. With his impressive background in finance, mergers and acquisitions and operational strategy, Prem has the knowledge, relationships and global perspective that will be very valuable as we continue our growth around the world and optimize our capital structure. We look forward to his valuable contributions to our strategy and tapping into his relationships to extend our reach with the financial community and potential partners.”

     

    Parameswaran added, “Over the course of my career, I have seen first-hand a number of media and entertainment businesses on the verge of exponential growth, and I believe Eros is one of those kinds of companies. Eros’ incredibly valuable and growing content library, its dominant market share position in one of the fastest growing markets in the world, its burgeoning digital distribution platform ErosNow, and its very talented and experienced management team are the elements that I believe make this a compelling company. This is an ideal situation where I can bring my experience, relationships and financial background into a well-established company and help drive additional growth and create value for its shareholders. I am excited to get started and look forward to working with the team to achieve great things.”

     

    Parameswaran most recently served as the global head of media and telecommunications investment banking at Jefferies LLC. Prior to Jefferies, he was the Americas head of media & telecom at Deutsche Bank. He has also previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Salomon Brothers.

     

    Lulla added, “I want to thank Andrew for the important role he has played in the development of our company to date. His insight, experience and understanding of our business has helped us hugely.”

     

    Heffernan said, “During my time with Eros, the company has experienced significant growth in revenues and its film slate and the launch of its digital distribution platform. I look forward to the company continuing to capitalize on its potential to expand further in one of the fastest growing media markets in the world.”

  • Mindshare restructures South Asia leadership

    Mindshare restructures South Asia leadership

    MUMBAI: As part of its ongoing commitment to delivering adaptive planning and thinking, for clients and dynamic markets, Mindshare APAC has realigned its senior leadership in South Asia.

     

    Mindshare APAC chief client officer MA Parthasarathy has been named chief product officer for South Asia. In his new role, Parthasarathy will lead a community of communications strategy and analytics across ten Mindshare offices in South Asia.

     

    Ruchir Mathur, currently principal partner on the PepsiCo business has been appointed as leader for client leadership. Mathur will spearhead a range of ground-breaking activity with an experience of over ten years with Mindshare.

     

    Saket Sinha returns to the Mindshare family as principal partner leading rodeos and the east zone. In his previous role, Sinha was championing business in new geographies for GroupM, creating expansions for the network in several new markets.

     

    Sinha will report to Mathur and Mindshare South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar for the east zone. Parthasarathy and Mathur will report into Kumar directly.

     

    Commenting on the re-alignment, Kumar said, “As pioneers in adaptive marketing, we are focused on creating a team that continues to open up more possibilities and set ourselves apart, with the capability to merge strategy with market intelligence. As we advise our clients to change mindsets that reflect in the communication they partake in, so does our commitment strengthen to ensure our best talent to service the brands we work with. Parthasarathy, Ruchi and Saket have always been an integral part of the Mindshare family. Each one of them brings their expertise to the table and I am confident that they will continue to take Mindshare to greater heights.”

  • Reliance Games ups Amit Khanduja as CEO

    Reliance Games ups Amit Khanduja as CEO

    MUMBAI: Reliance Entertainment has appointed Amit Khanduja as the new CEO of Reliance Games.

     

    Khanduja, who is currently the COO of the company, will take on his new position from 1 June, 2015 from the present CEO Manish Agarwal.

     

    With about 10 games scheduled to launch globally, Reliance Games is well poised for continued success in global markets, especially in North America and Western Europe. The company also announced a new market expansion strategy to gain share in the domestic market.

     

    Reliance Group, group managing director Amitabh Jhunjhunwala said, “Amit is a proven leader, and has built a strong foundation for innovation and growth. I am confident that under his leadership, we will chart a promising new phase of success in the global mobile and digital gaming space.”

     

    Khanduja added, “I am deeply honoured to take this role and lead the team on an exciting journey both in the global and fast growing domestic markets. We have been on the forefront of delivering great consumer experiences on digital platforms over the past 36 months, and will continue on the growth path with renewed focus on new innovations and market expansions in this space.” 

     

    Khanduja has an experience of over two decades in mobile and digital media. Prior to joining Reliance Group, he held various positions in companies like Sun Microsystems and Hewlett Packard among others. 

  • Leo Burnett India ups Samir Gangahar as North India president

    Leo Burnett India ups Samir Gangahar as North India president

    MUMBAI: Leo Burnett has elevated Samir Gangahar as president of North India. In his new role, Gangahar will be responsible to lead the agency’s operations in North India. 

    Apart from content, digital and experiential, Gangahar’s new focus will be to grow other specialisations including shopper, retail and e-commerce.

    Leo Burnett Group India CEO Saurabh Verma said, “Under Samir, Leo Burnett, Delhi has transformed into a fully integrated operation. He has been instrumental in creating a culture of collaboration within the agency where a group of specialists work together to solve a client problem. Samir has helped strengthen Leo Burnett Delhi’s digital operation and I’m delighted to state that it has now become a technology/digital hub for many of our key clients. The activation business has grown tremendously in the last one year and going forward Samir’s role will be to build on that momentum. He will help us build new specialisations as part of his mandate. These include shopper, retail and rural.”

    Gangahar adds, “In my new role I look forward to working closely with Saurabh in growing Leo Burnett India on the back of a renewed thrust for integration. In line with our Human Kind philosophy, we will intensify our focus on finding and solving our clients’ problems and partnering them in the journey of brand building and business growth.”

    He joined Leo Burnett as executive director in August 2007 after a 17-year stint with JWT, where he was vice president and director, client servicing.

  • Everest Brand Solutions elevates Samir Chonkar as Mumbai creative head

    Everest Brand Solutions elevates Samir Chonkar as Mumbai creative head

    MUMBAI: In a recent restructuring of the top-level management, Rediffusion Y&R and Everest Brand Solutions have elevated its executive creative director Samir Chonkar to head the creative function of its Mumbai operations.

     

    Rediffusion Y&R and Everest CCO Rahul Jauhari said, “Samir’s contribution to the growth of Everest has been phenomenal. In addition to being a pillar of my team over the past few years, Samir has created work that has not just won, but also added immense value to our clients. His down-to-earth demeanor and relentless pursuit for perfection is respected by clients and colleagues alike. He steps into a role he has earned, in every sense of the word.”

     

    Rediffusion Y&R president Dhunji Wadia added, “Samir has a proven reputation as a creative leader and is held with enormous regard both internally and his clients. Samir’s passion for our agency, his integrity and intellectual curiosity, along with his deep collaborative way of working will make a difference to our clients and to our agency.”

     

    In his stint of more than 20 years in the industry, Chonkar’s work has featured across international awards shows and Indian award forums like DMAI Echo, IDMAI, Goafest, Digital Crest and Indian Marketing Awards to name a few.

     

    In recent times, his work for Tata Value Homes won the International Echo Award. His enviable body of work across Parle brands has been instrumental in Parle trusting Everest Brand Solutions with a significantly larger portfolio of brands.

  • GroupM appoints Filip Jabbour as MENA CEO

    GroupM appoints Filip Jabbour as MENA CEO

    MUMBAI: In order to drive growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), GroupM has appointed Filip Jabbour as CEO for the region.

     

    Based in Dubai, Jabbour will begin his new role from June and report to GroupM Europe, Middle East & North Africa CEO Dominic Grainger.

     

    In his new post, Jabbour will be responsible for developing GroupM’s strategy and accelerating the growth of its media agencies Mindshare, MEC, MediaCom, and BPG Maxus across the region.

     

    Jabbour will launch operations to leverage GroupM’s scale and accelerate development of media agency offerings with focus on developments in digital, technology, and data management, as well as partnerships with media, entertainment and sports rights owners to create additional value and drive advantages for clients.

     

    Jabbour joins GroupM from the US-based Spark where he was executive vice president and managing director. He was also previously with Starcom MediaVest Group as global business development director, where he spearheaded strategy with clients and drove new business internationally. He held leadership roles at Starcom since 2005, including being MENA CEO where he drove successful business across the region.

     

    “MENA is a diverse and dynamic region, with fantastic growth opportunities for our clients. Filip’s track record with blue chip clients, developing communications offers for the future and building relationships make him well suited to further develop and lead our regional operations. His experience, along with his strategic thinking and interest in developing an innovative future-facing business, make him an ideal cultural fit for GroupM and just the right leader to collaborate closely with our agencies to drive additional benefits and growth for our clients in the region,” said Grainger.

     

     

    Jabbour added, “The opportunity to join the world’s leading media investment management group to lead development in the exciting and fast-growing MENA market is thrilling. GroupM agencies operating in MENA are distinguished by their winning track records, and I am keen to help accelerate their pace by harnessing the absolute best digital, technology, data and content solutions available. I’m looking forward to integrating learning from work in the US and across global markets, with specific experiences developed by being part of the MENA region that has shaped my career for 18 years.” 

  • Havas Media International appoints Aga Giedroyc as Asia Pacific GM

    Havas Media International appoints Aga Giedroyc as Asia Pacific GM

    MUMBAI: Havas Media International has appointed Aga Giedroyc as general manager for Asia Pacific.

     

    The new role sees Giedroyc returning back to Havas Media International (formerly MPG International), where she spent three years between 2005 to 2008 based out of London office.

     

    Giedroyc will work closely with the agency’s hubs in Singapore and Hong Kong to manage key international businesses that include Emirates, LG Electronics, Shangri-La Hotels, Accor and AXA Insurance. Her mandate includes managing international teams with a focus on delivering integrated media planning and communications solutions through Meaningful Connections planning process. She will be also be responsible for driving the integration of digital and specialised services and leading business development from existing and new clients.

     

    Giedroyc will report directly to Havas Media International global CEO Jorge Irizar and will have a dual reporting in Asia Pacific reporting in to Havas Media Group Asia Pacific CEO Vishnu Mohan and Havas Media Group, Greater China CEO Christophe Cases.

     

    An accomplished media professional with more than ten years in media communications industry, Giedroyc joins the agency with an expertise in managing regional and global clients, strategy counsel, integrated and multi-market media planning, buying & implementation, incorporating digital, network management and international operations.

     

    Most recently, she was with OMD International, where she was responsible for managing the media business of ASICS and Cisco in EMEA region. Prior to this, she spent four years with UM International.

     

    Mohan said, “The two regional hubs of Havas Media International in Singapore and Hong Kong have witnessed a major growth and expansion on the back of our big global wins in recent years. Aga has the right experience and attitude for this role and I have no doubt that she will prove to be a great asset to the international team.”

     

    Cases added, “Aga comes across as a very enthusiastic and driven person and it is wonderful to have her on board. We are looking forward to working with her closely in Greater China to develop the full potential of the international businesses based out of the Hong Kong hub.”

     

    Giedroyc said, “Joining Havas Media is like homecoming for me. I started my career with Havas Media International in London and am truly excited to be back. Asia Pacific is a region that I was very keen to experience professionally and the group’s entrepreneurial spirit and its integrated offering was a big attraction for me. I do hope to contribute to its success story in the region.”