ITV

Category: People

  • Razorfish appoints Charulata Ravi Kumar as new CEO for India

    Razorfish appoints Charulata Ravi Kumar as new CEO for India

    MUMBAI: Razorfish has announced the appointment of Charulata Ravi Kumar as the chief executive officer, India.

     Kumar will work from the agency’s Mumbai office, also responsible for the regional presence across Bangalore, Gurgaon and Pune. She will report to APAC executive chairman Vincent Digonnet.

     

    Previously, Kumar has held leadership roles in India, Middle East and Europe and has managed businesses and brands across US and South Asia. Her 25 year career includes stints with the WPP and Lowe networks as well as establishing her own successful innovation and leadership skills consultancy Coffee Kettle.

     

    Kumar said, “I’m honoured to lead Razorfish India’s business and to be tasked with taking the network to new heights, leveraging technology, social media, e-commerce, data services, experience, design and brand building capabilities to deliver transformational business experiences. My goal is to ensure Razorfish India remains to be the destination for smart, curious, creative and entrepreneurial-minded people and to further strengthen Razorfish India’s existing core competencies.”

     

    Digonnet remarked, “Charulata brings to this role true business transformation skills through a blend of innovation, integrated marketing solutions and entrepreneurship. She has diverse experience across sectors such as services, manufacturing and consumer products across leading multinational corporations and global brands.”

     

    He continued, “She is the perfect succession choice and her proven skills that help brands to bridge the gap between today’s business reality and tomorrow’s new opportunities, is a perfect marriage to Razorfish’s business model. She has in-depth understanding of the Indian market and her background is a perfect complement to the skills we have already developed.”

     

    Outgoing managing director, Kanika Mathur added, “It’s been a privilege to have worked within the Publicis Groupe, latterly at Razorfish, an iconic organisation with digital at its core, since 2008. I commence my new professional challenge assured that under Charulata’s leadership, Razorfish India will continue to thrive and progress an agenda, helping clients navigate the future and transform their businesses.”

     

    Kumar’s appointment is effective immediately.

  • HUL gets a new independent director in Kalpana Morparia

    HUL gets a new independent director in Kalpana Morparia

    MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has got a new independent director. JP Morgan India CEO Kalpana Morparia has been brought on its board effective 9 October 2014. She is also a member of the JP Morgan Asia Pacific Management Committee.

     

    Morparia is an Independent director on the boards of several companies including Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, Bennett Coleman & Company Limited, Phillip Morris International and CMC.  

     
    Prior to joining JP Morgan India, Morparia served as vice chairman on the boards of ICICI Group companies.  She was the joint managing director of the ICICI Group from 2001 to 2007.

     
    Morparia will be a member of the Audit and Corporate Social Responsibility Committees of the HUL Board.

     
    HUL chairman Harish Manwani said: “Kalpana’s vast experience and proven track record of leadership will add tremendous value to our Board.”

         
    Morparia stated: “I am delighted to join the Board of this iconic Company. I look forward to my role as an Independent Director of one of the most respected consumer companies.”

     

  • MEC appoints Marie-Claire Barker as global chief talent officer

    MEC appoints Marie-Claire Barker as global chief talent officer

    MUMBAI: MEC, www.mecglobal.com, today announced the appointment of Marie-Claire Barker as its first global chief talent officer. 

     

    She will work with the agency’s global CEO Charles Courtier with the aim to discipline leaders and people and culture teams around the world, to deliver a consistent talent strategy and approach as to how MEC attracts, evaluates, motivates and grows their people.

     

    Talking about her new responsibility, Barker said, “I want to be in a business with a palpable culture.  MEC’s talent manifesto, which encourages each employee to thrive within the context of work, is something that really intrigues me.”

     

    “I have a strong desire to change the face of talent management in our industry, so operating in an environment that encourages uniqueness and innovation in a culture where employees feel there are no barriers to reaching their potential is what has drawn me to MEC,” she added.

     

    Barker previously worked with Ogilvy Group for six years where she worked as chief talent officer, responsible for driving and delivering talent strategy for their 22,000 staff, globally. 

     

    Commenting on the appointment Courtier said, “Marie-Claire has an absolute passion for the growth and development of people, and I know that she’s looking forward to working with MEC leaders to drive a culture where each employee is able to contribute in a meaningful way to improve business results, and reach their own personal potential.”

  • McDonald’s India appoints Kedar Teny as marketing and digital director

    McDonald’s India appoints Kedar Teny as marketing and digital director

    MUMBAI: Hardcastle Restaurants Private Limited (HRPL), a master franchisee for west & south India operations of McDonald’s and a subsidiary of Westlife Development, has announced the appointment of Kedar Teny as director-marketing and digital.

     

    Teny’s primary responsibility will be to spearhead and shape the marketing agenda for the brand across consumer engagement platforms and he will directly report to McDonald’s India (west & south) MD Smita Jatia.

     

    Speaking on the new appointment, Jatia said, “We have strengthened our senior management team with the appointment of Kedar Teny as director –marketing and digital. As we make a coordinated and concerted push to augment our status as an innovator and disruptor in the QSR industry, Kedar’s immense creativity and strategic thinking will help strengthen the McDonald’s position in the market.”

     

    “Kedar is joining us at a hugely exciting time. With the expansion of new communications channels and developments across our growing product mix, he will be instrumental in leading and developing successful multi-channel marketing solutions in a fast paced and competitive digital environment,” she added.

     

    Teny began his career with iB&W in 1997 as a Management Trainee and has almost seventeen year of experience in the field of brand management, strategic planning, and advertising. After iB&W, he joined Lowe Worldwide, one of the leading advertising agencies as account executive in 1999. He has also worked on many iconic brands at Lowe Worldwide in India and South East Asia, and thereon made the shift to marketing at Airtel and then Unilever.

     

    A music aficionado and a cricket enthusiast, Teny holds a masters in business administration, with a specialisation in marketing, from the Institute of Management Studies, Indore.

  • Harish Manwani to retire as HUL’s chief operating officer

    Harish Manwani to retire as HUL’s chief operating officer

    MUMBAI: After 38 years of service, Harish Manwani, Unilevers’ chief operating officer has decided to hang his boots.

     

    Manwani will retire from Unilever on 31 December 31; however, he will continue in his capacity as the non-executive chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL).

     

    Manwani, who had joined HUL as a management trainee in 1976, grew the personal products business from a nascent business to one of the key growth engines of the company. Subsequently,  he enjoyed success in many roles, covering both categories and markets, and across many parts of the world. This included stints as SVP Global Hair Care & Oral Care and Home & Personal Care president first of Latin America and later of North America.

     

    Unilever CEO Paul Polman said, “Harish is an inspirational leader and leaves a remarkable legacy. He has been at my side in helping to drive the turnaround of Unilever, making this once again one of the most admired companies in the world. Over the last three years, especially as Chief Operating Officer, Harish has been instrumental in the transformation of the company. Under his leadership we have seen a step-change in our go-to-market organisation and there has been a relentless focus on flawless execution globally.  He has role-modelled the 4G sustainable growth model – Competitive, Consistent, Profitable and Responsible – which has become such a strong focal point for the Markets.”

     

    Paul added, “I would like to thank Harish once more for his enormous contribution.  He is both a friend and a much admired and respected business leader. In everything he has done, Harish has lived the values that make Unilever such a great company. Through his passion, commitment and endless energy, he leaves a lasting impact on the business he has served with such distinction. I will personally miss his friendship and wise counsel.”

     

    As COO, Manwani’s key achievement have been his leadership of the global markets where he established and aligned the market clusters across the world behind a clear agenda, creating a better and more integrated go-to-market organisation. It has also allowed the business to be managed more dynamically, resource allocation to be done more efficiently across markets and best practices to be transferred more seamlessly. This has allowed Unilever to become increasingly more competitive in a tougher business environment.

     

    Manwani  said, “I am deeply grateful to all those colleagues who have helped to make the last 38 years at HUL and Unilever so memorable and fulfilling. It has been a privilege to serve such a great company. Today, Unilever is in a strong position with a clear strategy and capabilities to drive long-term responsible growth. This makes it a good time for me to make this personal transition. I look forward to working with Paul and the leadership team over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition and to further build our growth agenda.”

     

  • Srinivasan Swamy re-elected president of IAA in India

    Srinivasan Swamy re-elected president of IAA in India

    MUMBAI: At the Annual General Body Meeting of the India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) held in Mumbai, RK Swamy Hansa Group chairman Srinivasan Swamy was unanimously elected its president for the third consecutive term.

     

    He already serves on the IAA Global Board as IAA Asia Pacific development vice president.

     

    Neeraj Roy of Hungama, Monica Tata of HBO and Jaideep Gandhi of Jaya Advertising were also re-elected vice president, honorary secretary and treasurer, respectively, for 2014-15.

     

    The other members elected into the managing committee were: Abhishek Karnani of The Free Press Journal, Vishakha Singh of Aurora Comms, Manish Advani of Mahindra SSG, Janak Sarda of Deshdoot, CVL Srinivas of Group M, Avinash Pandey of ABP News, MV Shreyams Kumar of Mathrubhumi, Partho Dasgupta of BARC, Bhaskar Das of Zee Media and Rajesh Kejriwal of Kyoorius.

     

    In addition, the following would serve in the committee as invited members for the year 2014-15: Pradeep Guha, Pheroza Bilimoria, Sam Balsara, Kaushik Roy, Raj Nayak, Ramesh Narayan, M G Parameswaran, Neville Taraporewalla, Gayatri Yadav, Anita Nayyar, Pradeep Dwivedi, Anand Sankeshwar, Sunil Lulla and Punitha Arumugam. “A few more have been invited and their names will be announced after they accept our invitation”, said Swamy.

     

    In his outgoing president’s address, Swamy said that the year that went by was an active one, where 32 events were organised by IAA India. Some of these included two IAA Debates, four IAA Conversations, five IAA Mentorship Webinars, six Knowledge Seminars, three IAA Young Turks Forum events and other marquee events like the IAA Olive Crown Awards and the IAA Leadership Awards. There were a few other special ones like the IAA Retrospect & Prospects events in Gurgaon and Mumbai and the IAA Mentorship Programme. The year was off to a terrific start on 30 September 2013 with the IAA Platinum Jubilee Global Marketing Summit where the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi delivering his valedictory address on his vision of Brand India.

     

    IAA India will be celebrating its Silver Jubilee year in 2014-15. “We have identified at least 20 different platforms to peg our events for the coming year. We have a very good committee and I wouldn’t be surprised if we have more than 52 events during the year”, said Swamy.

     

    IAA Asia Pacific area director Praddep Guha, “IAA India is already seen as the most active industry body in India as well as in the IAA world. With the plans that are made for 2014-15, I have no doubt that this will be the best year ever and would set a new benchmark”.

     

    Not wanting to elaborate as yet, Swamy said, “IAA will continue with some its past branded events and add a few special ones for the year that would make the IAA India Silver Jubilee a memorable one”.

     

     

  • Chax quits FCB Ulka

    Chax quits FCB Ulka

    MUMBAI: FCB Ulka’s national creative director K S Chakravarthy aka Chax has quit.

     

    As per industry sources, Chax is serving his notice period and will soon go on a short break. “Yes, he has quit but as of now he is not joining any other agency,” says the source.

     

    Chax had joined Ulka in 2008 and had been overseeing all the work for creative, digital and interactive divisions of the agency.  With career spanning close to 35 years, Chax has worked on a variety of brands including Tata Docomo, Tata Motors, ITC, Coke, Cadbury, Lever, P&G, Goodyear and Reebok.

     

    An Electrical and Electronics engineer by education, Chax started his career as a copy-trainee with Clarion (now Bates 141), he then moved to JWT and then, Enterprise. He later joined Chaitra (now Leo Burnett) after which he went on to set up his own production house – Persistence of Vision. During this time he was voted as one of India’s most respected ad film directors. He moved back to Rediffusion Y&R before joining FCB Ulka.

     

  • HUL announces key appointments

    HUL announces key appointments

    MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has announced a key change in the management committee. Manish Tiwary, currently sales and customer development executive director and VP, will now take charge of the Unilever Gulf business as the managing director.

     

    Customer Development Global RTM, TT and CDIT vice president Punit Misra will take place of Tiwary at HUL and will be part of the company’s management committee. The change will be effective November 2014.

     

    HUL CEO and managing director Sanjiv Mehta said, “I would like to express my deep appreciation for the significant contribution that Manish has made to the India business and congratulate him on his new role.”

     

    Tiwary has led the largest increase in sales coverage by adding 1 million plus perfect stores across India. He also executed structural changes to provide a sharper focus to the Foods business and laid the blueprint for ‘Winning In Many Indias’, the customer development model of HUL that was rolled out in September 2014.

     

    Misra joined HUL in 1996 and has worked across marketing and customer development roles both in HUL and Unilever.

     

    Misra’s successor will be announced in due course.

  • Edelman gets on board Kunal Arora and Deepak Agarwal

    Edelman gets on board Kunal Arora and Deepak Agarwal

    MUMBAI: To further bolster its digital business in India, Edelman has announced two strategic leadership appointments.

     

    It has got on-board Kunal Arora as the national director who will be responsible for the company’s digital business in India, overseeing business planning and development and will lead a team of digital experts across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

     

    He will be based in Gurgaon and report to Edelman Digital APACMEA president Gavin Coombes and Edelman India COO Rakesh Thukral.

     

    Arora comes with over 16 years of experience in the digital advertising business. Before joining Edelman, he was the business lead at Hungama Digital Services for six years.

     

    To further impetus to the company’s digital creative offerings in India, it has also appointed Deepak Agarwal as group creative director, digital. He will be based in Mumbai, heading an all-India digital creative team, reporting to Arora. In his role, he will lead the charge in elevating the digital creative for both content development and digital builds.

     

    Agarwal, in his last role, served as Executive Creative Director, Copy M&C SAATCHI-i – the direct marketing & digital division of M&C SAATCHI.

     

    “The addition of Kunal and Deepak is critical to our plans to broaden our Digital offering in India across creative, strategy and build,” said Thukral. “Kunal’s digital advertising experience and Deepak’s award-winning creative expertise will strengthen our capabilities to deliver truly integrated campaigns to our clients.”

     

    “Kunal and Deepak bring unique and extensive experience in a variety of fields, from advertising to direct marketing to digital to social media, and we look forward to making the most of all of their expertise together with their passion and commitment to excellence as we build the Edelman Digital brand and business across India,” said Coombes.

     

    He further adds: “These two skill leaders will work with the strong talent base we already have on the ground and our over 1,000 digital professionals throughout the world for the benefit of our clients.”

  • Twitter India appoints Anupam Dixit as its first industry manager

    Twitter India appoints Anupam Dixit as its first industry manager

    MUMBAI: Twitter India has appointed Anupam Dixit as its first industry manager in the country. The official handle of Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) tweeted out the following announcing his appointment.

     

    As Twitter’s first industry manager in India, Dixit is responsible for providing support for Indian advertising campaigns leveraging the company’s platform for live, public conversations, while working with industry-leading marketers to increase engagement with their customers on Twitter.

     

    Dixit has eight years of digital marketing experience and has had a front row seat to the evolution of the medium in India. In his last role, he was MTS digital marketing and ecommerce head, where he worked on the MTS internet baby campaign, which is now the most viewed brand commercial on YouTube among other award winning digital innovations.

     

    Prior to MTS, he launched Blyk, a youth mobile messaging media platform, India; besides starting his first digital venture EveryMedia.