ITV

Category: People

  • Cheil Worldwide SW Asia powers up digital quotient

    Cheil Worldwide SW Asia powers up digital quotient

    MUMBAI: Cheil Worldwide SW Asia announced the appointment of Avinash Joshi as media director, where he will be responsible for the agency’s social media practice.

     

    Joshi is a digital marketing expert with over 15 years of experience in leveraging social insights, trends in emerging technology and human interaction to understand, explain, predict and influence consumer behaviour in digital, social and emerging channels. 

     

    Cheil Worldwide SW Asia COO Hari Krishnan said, “Avinash is an incredibly passionate yet methodical advocate of social media. His multi-faceted experience across project management, creative, technology and media will be immensely valuable for our clients at Cheil India.”

     

    “While most of the digital verticals are headed by seasoned skill leaders at Cheil India, social media leadership had remained a gap area for us.  With Avinash coming onboard, am sure, we will not just offer best in class social solutions but strengthen our overall digital offering to clients”, added Cheil Worldwide SW Asia senior VP & digital head Rajesh Bhatia.

     

    Joshi joins from SapientNitro were he was serving as digital account director and social media lead-India, growing the practice through relationships in North America, Europe and APAC.

     

    Over the years he has managed brands including Coca Cola – Burn, Sprite and Thums Up, Citibank India, Citibank US, Unilever – Lifebuoy & Lipton, Pernod Ricard – Chivas Regal & Blenders Pride, Yum – Taco Bell India, Fiat Chrysler – Fiat and Jeep India, Abbott, MetLife, Carlton and United Breweries, Lava International – Xolo, United Nations, UNICEF, United Nations Statistics Division, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Development Coordination Office/Development Group and WHO, Red Cross (Thailand), National Statistical Office, Government of India, State Planning Commission, Government of Madhya Pradesh (India), HIV AIDs Data Hub, Asia Pacific among others.

     

    Prior to SapientNitro, Joshi has worked with GutsGo, Avalon Information Systems, UNICEF DevInfo Support Group, Wisitech (formerly, Orient InfoSolutions) and Sunstar Communication Systems Ltd.

  • Shruti Varma to head Tata Docomo business at Contract

    Shruti Varma to head Tata Docomo business at Contract

    MUMBAI: Shruti Varma joins Contract Advertising as senior vice president and will be heading the Tata Docomo account for the agency.

     

    A highly experienced FMCG advertising professional, Varma joins Contract from Havas Worldwide where she spent close to eight years and was heading the Reckitt Benckiser account for India and recently, the south east Asian market besides many successful campaigns and product launches.

     

    Varma will be reporting to Contract Delhi senior VP & GM Shivaji Dasgupta who while announcing Varma’s appointment said, “Contract has always been a melting pot of great talent and Shruti is a very welcome addition to the pool. She has the right blend of strategic acumen and operational mastery to be a highly successful business leader for us. I am certain she will have a long and fruitful innings with Contract.”

     

    Besides Reckitt Benckiser, Varma has also worked on Dabur, during her stint at Bates for over three years. A Delhi University alumnus, she started her career in research with IMRB, before choosing advertising as her career.

     

    “I have worked on leader brands and I have worked on challenger brands. And I think I have contributed in meaningful ways in turning some challenger brands into leader brands. And that’s what’s exciting about our business. I hope that together with the amazing talent at Contract, I would help do the same for TATA Docomo. The challenges will be many. But then, what’s Advertising without a little adrenaline rush,” said Varma on her appointment at Contract.

     

    During her tenure at Havas, Shruti has worked on key brands such as Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Mortien, Lizol, Airwick, Vanish, Moov, Strepsils amongst others.

  • Phil Nelson takes on expanded role at Turner Asia Pacific

    Phil Nelson takes on expanded role at Turner Asia Pacific

    MUMBAI: Turner International Asia Pacific has announced that Phil Nelson has been appointed senior vice president and managing director, Southeast Asia Pacific and north Asia.

     

    Previously responsible for strategic planning and north Asia, Nelson now has operational oversight for the commercial functions of Turner’s business in Southeast Asia Pacific in addition to Japan and Korea. Reporting into him from these three regional areas are Tom Perry, Ron Lee and Robi Stanton, respectively.

     

    Commenting on this elevation, Asia Pacific president Ricky Ow said, “In his new role, I am certain Phil will enable us to optimize our brands and operational efficiency. With his experience of the media business in Asia Pacific, Phil’s role at the heart of Turner’s commercial operations will undoubtedly put us in a stronger position for future growth. His expanded remit will allow us to identify even more new opportunities across the region.”

     

    Nelson joined Turner Asia Pacific in 2010 as the head of business development responsible for business and corporate development as well as strategic planning across all Tuner businesses throughout Asia. In 2013, his role was expanded to include the north Asia business.

     

    Prior to joining Turner, Nelson was managing director of AOL Asia, based in India and responsible for the digital pioneer’s business and operations throughout the region. Previous positions with AOL included general manager, AOL India and various executive positions in programming, technologies and finance based in AOL’s US headquarters.

     

    Before entering the corporate sector, Nelson was a commander in the US Navy and was stationed throughout the world including Japan, the Middle East and Washington DC. Nelson holds an MBA from Harvard University. He was born in Singapore and has spent most of his life in Asia.

  • ‘Reporters Sans Frontier’ honours Arunachal Times journalist

    ‘Reporters Sans Frontier’ honours Arunachal Times journalist

    KOLKATA: Tongam Rina, an Itanagar-based journalist, has been honoured by the ‘Reporters Without Borders’ (Reporters Sans Frontier-RSF), the international organization that works for freedom of the press and information.

     

    Rina, the associate editor of The Arunachal Times, is the only Indian journalist to find place in the list of ‘100 information heroes’ released by the Paris-based body on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, the newspaper said in a statement.

     

    Apparently angered by her bold articles against anti-social elements in the society, gunmen shot and injured her in front of her office on 15 July, 2012.

     

    Now recovered from her injuries, Rina vows to continue her journalistic mission without fear and trepidations, the statement said.

     

    Prepared for the first time by the RSF, the list comprises 100 heroes (men and women scribes between ages 25-75) from 65 countries across the world, who have helped “to promote the freedom enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through their courageous work or activism”.

     

     Last year, Rina was also selected for the prestigious ‘Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media’ instituted by the Media Foundation, Leipzig, Germany.

     

     She was also honoured with the Laadli Media Award 2011-12 for Gender Sensitivity, Eastern Region, in Kolkata in 2012. The award is instituted by the Population First, an NGO working on population and health issues supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

  • Rajiv Lochan to lead all non-editorial operations of The Hindu and Group newspapers

    Rajiv Lochan to lead all non-editorial operations of The Hindu and Group newspapers

    NEW DELHI: The Hindu Group today announced that Rajiv C Lochan had been appointed as managing director and chief executive office of the group with effect from 1 June 2014.

     

    According to the Board of Directors decision announced by the newspaper today, he will lead all non-editorial operations of the company and will join the Board of Directors of Kasturi and Sons Limited (KSL), publishers of The Hindu and Group newspapers.

     

    KSL chairman N Ram and co-chairman N Murali said: “In this digital age when the Indian press, and specifically The Hindu newspaper group, faces radically new types of challenges and opportunities, when relevant and rich editorial content that continually engages a variety of readers and best editorial practices need to go hand in hand with a smart business strategy that thinks two steps ahead, operates with a progressive vision rooted in values, and balances its responsibilities of ensuring value to shareholders, a fair and just deal for employees, and sustained gains for readers, advertisers, and other partners in the business, we are confident that we have found the right person to head the non-editorial operations of the company.”

     

    They added: “Rajiv brings to his challenging role as MD & CEO of KSL dynamism and social awareness combined with a winning record as a professional who has led in driving performance and transforming the culture of large organisations in step with rapidly changing times. We are excited about this change at the helm of our business operations.”

     

    Lochan was a partner with McKinsey & Company and founding location manager of McKinsey’s practice in Chennai. His focus in McKinsey was to help leaders and leadership teams drive performance and cultural transformation of their organisations. In addition, he focused on the social sector, primarily rural economic development and financial inclusion.

     

    Lochan is currently the trustee of IKP Trust and will continue to devote time to public health issues in rural India. He graduated from IIT, Madras and has advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia Business School.

  • KV Sridhar joins SapientNitro

    KV Sridhar joins SapientNitro

    MUMBAI: World is surely moving towards digital, maybe that’s why KV Sridhar (Pops) decided to join digital agency SapientNitro.

     

    Very excited to join this new breed of agency which is redefining storytelling, he wrote on his facebook page. He will join the agency as chief creative officer in India, starting 1 July.

     

    After spending 17 years in Leo Burnett, his exit left everyone shocked. A t the time of leaving the agency Pops had said, “It has been a purposeful journey for me at Leo Burnett, growing with and having a chance to play a key role in shaping the agency’s creative prowess. I have had the opportunity to work with and get to be friends with some of the brightest creative minds in the world, work on some of the most exciting campaigns, with some of the most amazing clients. I wish Saurabh Varma (CEO of the agency in India) and Leo Burnett great success.”

     

    His current move has left everyone surprised as well. On his appointment, he said, “I am excited about joining SapientNitro, it allows me to connect with the new generation. This is something completely future facing, there are very few senior guys actually embracing new media today.”

     

    Leo Burnett recently replaced Pops with BBDO’s RajDeepak Das, who will head the agency’s creative function across India.

     

    SapientNitro, part of Sapient, is a USA-based agency with interests in what it calls integrated, omni-channel commerce. The agency has offices in 31 cities spread across The Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

     

    Globally, the agency has over 1,000 clients including names such as Chrysler, Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Lufthansa, Target and Vodafone.

  • L&K Saatchi & Saatchi ropes in Delna Sethna Patel as CCO

    L&K Saatchi & Saatchi ropes in Delna Sethna Patel as CCO

    MUMBAI: Delna Sethna Patel joins L&K Saatchi & Saatchi as chief creative officer where she will primarily focus on their P&G businesses namely Head and shoulders, Ariel, Olay and Pampers.

     

    Delna brings with her 17 years of experience having worked with agencies like Lowe, Ambience and JWT. Her last assignment was with Leo Burnett where she was the regional creative director on brand Whisper.

     

    She has worked across an array of brands like Johnson Baby, Croma, Fair & Lovely, Lux, Sunsilk, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Bajaj Auto, Pepsodent, Tata Tea Gold, Lakme, Taj Hotels, Palaces & Resorts and Vivel to name a few.

     

    L&K Saatchi & Saatchi CEO and managing partner Anil S Nair said, “Delna is a kind of creative leader who brings the best out of everyone who works with her, irrespective of the department they work in. We are excited to have such an inspirational leader in our team.”

     

    Patel added, “I am very happy to be back and I’m looking forward to working with Anil and Praveen to grow business and push the creative envelope.”

  • Scarecrow wins creative duties of Kenneth Cole, Steve Madden and Quiksilver

    Scarecrow wins creative duties of Kenneth Cole, Steve Madden and Quiksilver

    MUMBAI:  Scarecrow Communications has been appointed as the creative agency to handle three of the fashion world’s most renowned brands – Kenneth Cole, Steve Madden and Quiksilver – as they foray to scorch up the Indian fashion scene. 

    The accounts were awarded to Scarecrow without any pitch process. All three brands have entered India through a joint venture with Reliance Brands, a source from Reliance brands confirmed.  

    Scarecrow Communications founder director Manish Bhatt is thrilled to add some glam quotient to the agency’s clientele. “What makes this triple acquisition really exciting is the fact that while all three brands are iconic, each has a unique tone of voice. They all have done some really brave, clutter-breaking work, globally. It’s indeed a privilege to work on brands with such great legacy.”

    Steve Madden and Kenneth Cole marketing head Kavita Khiara added “Increasingly fashion consumers expect from the brands that they adorn the same tonality that is the signature to its clothing and accessories ; bringing in a freshness and yet carrying forward the soul of the brand is a communication challenge that we see the team at Scarecrow well adept at handling.”

     

     Scarecrow Communication senior creative director Sarvesh Raikar said, “Fashion advertising has really evolved, globally. We have seen apparel catalogues sold as music albums! Not just ATL and digital, but even retail and promo-led communication offers huge scope for innovations today. Our young, tech-savvy and highly talented team makes us believe these brands are right up our alley!”

     

     The agency has won numerous awards and recognitions in a short span. The latest being named as the Agency of the Year at Mirchi Kaan Awards, that was held on 17 April, 2014, where many of the country’s big agencies were also contenders. 

  • Rajeev Suri to take over as Nokia CEO and president

    Rajeev Suri to take over as Nokia CEO and president

    NEW DELHI: Rajeev Suri, who is taking over as the new president and CEO of Nokia, says the company will focus on three strong businesses – Networks, HERE (location cloud) and Technologies to position itself as one of the world’s largest software companies.

     

    The new appointment follows the completion of the divestment of phone business to Microsoft in a $7.2 billion deal.

     

    Apart from Suri, the new team will include Timo Ihamuotila who joins as executive vice president and group CFO; Michael Halbherr as CEO of HERE; Henry Tirri as executive VP, and acting head of technologies and Samih Elhage as executive VP and chief financial and operating officer of Networks.

     

    The old team included Stephen Elop, Jo Harlow, Juha Putkiranta, Timo Toikkanen, and Chris Weber who have already stepped down. Louise Pentland, Juha Akras and Kai Oistamo will step down from Nokia next month.

     

    Suri had recently turned round Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN), the telecom network business, by axing around 17,000 resources, divesting non-viable businesses and bringing clarity to its mobile broadband focus. The NSN brand will disappear as part of the new restructuring and will be known as Nokia Network business. Suri will continue to head this business.

     

    Nokia without the ailing phone business will focus on networks, location and technologies. Suri will draft fresh strategies for leadership position as NSN is behind Ericsson and Huawei in telecom network business.

     

    Suri joined Nokia in 1995 and has held a range of leadership positions in the company. Since October 2009, he has served as CEO of NSN, the former joint venture between Nokia and Siemens that is now fully owned by Nokia.

     

    Suri was instrumental in creating strategic clarity, driving innovation and growth, ensuring disciplined execution.

     

    India-born Suri is the second to be elevated to a major post in an IT company in recent weeks, as vendor Microsoft had recently picked up Satya Nadella as its CEO.

     

    Nokia believes that billions of connected devices will converge into intelligent and programmable systems over the next decade that will have the potential to improve lives in a vast number of areas: time and availability, transportation and resource consumption, learning and work, health, and wellness.

     

    This new world of technology will require connectivity capable of handling massive numbers of devices and exponential increases in data traffic; location services that seamlessly bridge between the real and virtual worlds; and innovation, including in sensing, radio and low power technologies.

     

    “Where it makes sense to do so, we will pursue shared opportunities between the businesses, but not at the expense of focus and discipline in each,” Suri added.

     

    In 2013, Nokia invested 2.5 billion euros in research and development.

     

    Through its networks business (formerly NSN), Nokia will invest in the innovative products and services needed by telecom operators to manage the increase in wireless data traffic which is more than doubling every year.

     

    Nokia will invest in mobile broadband and related services and next-generation network technologies.

     

    Nokia will invest to develop its location cloud to make it the leading source of location intelligence and experiences across many different operating systems, platforms and screen. The focus will be on technology for smart, connected cars; cloud-based services for personal mobility and location intelligence, including for the growing segment of wearables and special purpose devices; and location-based analytics for better business decisions.

     

    Nokia plans to reduce interest bearing debt by around 2 billion euros by the end of the second quarter 2016.

  • Verimatrix appoints Steve Oetegenn as president

    Verimatrix appoints Steve Oetegenn as president

    NEW DELHI: Steve Oetegenn is all set to take over as the president of Verimatrix to assist the company to grow its pay-TV operator base.

     

    Oetegenn will support the growth of Verimatrix especially when several large digital video operators are transitioning to an IP-centric network infrastructure. He will also continue to lead the sales and marketing efforts.

     

    Before joining Verimatrix, he was COO of MediaSec Technologies, a provider of digital watermarking; COO of Argus Systems Group, a provider of internet server security software, and CEO of DCE Communication, a provider of business messaging systems.