ITV

Category: People

  • Sameer Arora joins the advisory board of Boomlet Group

    Sameer Arora joins the advisory board of Boomlet Group

    Mumbai: Boomlet Group, an influencer marketing and crisis communication agency, has announced the appointment of Sameer Arora to the advisory board. Sameer boasts an impressive 25 years of experience in various key areas, including financial leadership, strategy consulting, corporate finance, business development, and valuation. With a proven track record of contributing to startup successes, Sameer is the ideal candidate for Boomlet’s pursuit of financial excellence and strategic growth. His appointment demonstrates the company’s dedication to achieving its growth objectives.

    Sameer will play a pivotal and decisive role in corporate finance, offering guidance on strategic financial decisions related to managing treasury funds, investments, and other resource allocations for Boomlet. His expertise will enable the company to navigate its finances effectively, ensuring sound fiscal health and strategic growth. Expressing his enthusiasm, Sameer said “My role here will revolve around fostering financial growth, making strategic monetary decisions, implementing the necessary steps to achieve our financial targets and roadmaps, and suggesting relevant measures to reach those financial targets. I look forward to collaborating with the team to advance our strategic goals and ensure the company’s continued expansion and success.”

    Boomlet Group co-founder & CEO Danish Malik on Sameer’s appointment, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Sameer Arora to our Advisory Board member. Sameer’s extensive experience and expertise are a valuable asset to our organization as we continue our journey of growth and expansion. His insight and guidance will be instrumental in pursuing and capitalizing growth opportunities.”

    “We are confident that Sameer Arora’s leadership and financial expertise will help Boomlet Group excel in today’s dynamic business environment. His role on the Advisory Board will be pivotal in driving our strategic initiatives and ensuring financial viability for our diverse ventures.” said Boomlet Group co-founder & MD Preety Singh on Sameer’s appointment.

    Boomlet Group is on the cusp of expanding its horizons by venturing into new business verticals. Sameer Arora’s appointment as an Advisory Board member marks a step further in the company’s commitment to growth and financial success. His valuable experience and financial expertise will have a significant impact on the organization’s journey towards achieving its strategic goals.

  • Wavemaker India bolsters its North leadership team

    Wavemaker India bolsters its North leadership team

    Mumbai: Wavemaker India, GroupM’s most awarded agency, has announced key appointments to further strengthen its North leadership team. The agency has appointed Jasmine Sachdeva as managing partner and Dipika Bhasin as head for Team Reckitt.  

    The move is aimed at strengthening the agency’s position in the region and enhancing its capabilities to deliver impactful solutions to clients.

    Sachdeva, a highly experienced media professional with over two decades of industry expertise joins back at GroupM after a short stint with Publicis Media. She is a skilled strategist with expertise in crafting integrated media strategies, audience planning, and designing ROI-focused campaigns. She has a remarkable track record of spearheading award-winning campaigns for brands such as Nestle, Haleon, MamaEarth, Hero Moto Corp, Google, and Airtel.

    Bhasin, a media and marketing expert, has played pivotal roles across agencies including Dentsu, Omnicom Media Group and Carat. With over two decades of experience, she has successfully led media practices for renowned brands such as Apple, LG, Vivo, Royal Enfield, HP, Perfetti Van Melle, Maruti, Snapdeal, Nissan and many more.

    Wavemaker CEO – South Asia Ajay Gupte said, “Wavemaker India is currently on a strong growth trajectory. Our goal is to drive positive provocation within the industry and continue to expand our reach across the landscape. I am delighted to welcome two highly experienced leaders to take on critical roles within the organization and drive further growth. Their unwavering focus on clients and people development is truly commendable.”

    Commenting on the appointment, Wavemaker India chief client officer & office head – West, North & East Shekhar Banerjee  said, “I am excited to welcome Jasmine and Dipika to the Wavemaker family. Their impressive industry experience and diverse skill sets make them a valuable addition to our organization. We are confident that their expertise will contribute significantly to our ongoing efforts to drive innovation, excellence, and transformation for our clients. We look forward to achieving great success together”.

    In their new roles, both Sachdeva and Bhasin will be reporting to Banerjee.  

  • Kapture CX appoints Deepak Leelavinothan as VP of products

    Kapture CX appoints Deepak Leelavinothan as VP of products

    Mumbai: Kapture CX, the SaaS-based Customer Experience platform, has appointed Deepak Leelavinothan as the Vice President of Products.

    He comes with a track record of driving product innovation and enhancing customer experience through his impressive 16 years of experience in the IT domain.

    Leelavinothan’s expertise encompasses a wide range of skills in product management like product strategy, market research, product launches, roadmapping, prioritization, and customer experience.

    He has a remarkable experience in successfully launching products from the ground up, and driving innovations in the B2B and B2C space. Leelavinothan is a technology enthusiast and is an expert in the CRM, e-commerce, and the customer experience domains. He is also an organic gardener, and a travel and music enthusiast.

    Commenting on his appointment, Kapture CX CEO & co-founder Sheshgiri Kamath said,” We are delighted to have Deepak onboard. His vast experience in product management will play a critical role in fortifying our commitment to customer-centric innovations, Gen-AI capabilities, and global expansion delivering exceptional value to our customers.”

    Leelavinothan holds a BE., and MS., in Computer Science, and an MBA (BITS Pilani). Prior to joining our team, he served as a Product Manager lead at Flipkart, where he launched and scaled their new Electric Vehicles business, which is among the fastest growing verticals at Flipkart.

    Commenting on the same, Leelavinothan said, “ I am excited to join the Kapture CX leadership team and be part of a company that is at the forefront of revolutionizing SaaS based customer support solutions and help shape the strategic vision of Kapture CX’s product portfolio.  As the pivot to digital experiences keeps growing each year, our customers have prioritized their focus on powerful AI-driven CX solutions that can bring down support costs and offer customer delight. Together with my incredibly passionate team at Kapture CX, we’re defining a rapid innovation-driven, sustainable growth path to establish ourselves as one of the world’s most loved pioneers in the customer support software industry.”

  • ONDC appoints Anupama Priyadarshini as Sr VP – corp governance, risk & compliance and investor relations

    ONDC appoints Anupama Priyadarshini as Sr VP – corp governance, risk & compliance and investor relations

    Mumbai: Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, recently announced the addition of Anupama Priyadarshini to its team. By assuming the position of senior vice president – corporate governance, risk & compliance, and investor relations, she will play a crucial role in elevating the governance, risk management, compliance, and investor relations within the ONDC network, reinforcing its commitment to excellence and responsible business practices.

    With a career spanning 25 years, Anupama has demonstrated her expertise in various sectors, including retail, steel manufacturing, and beverages. Most notably, she has spent 14 years with IKEA, serving as the CFO, Business Navigation Manager, and Director for IKEA Supply, South Asia. During her tenure, Anupama played a pivotal role in driving responsible and sustainable purchasing practices for IKEA’s global stores and markets while also increasing local sourcing in the Indian retail market. Her significant involvement in establishing IKEA’s footprint in India and South Asia has been instrumental in shaping the company’s growth strategy.

    Prior to her tenure with IKEA, Anupama made substantial contributions to Tata Steel’s growth strategy, concentrating on enhancing its cost competitiveness on a global scale. She also had a brief but impactful stint with PepsiCo, where she was responsible for overseeing capital investments within the Indian beverages market. Beyond her corporate role, Anupama has served as a visiting faculty member at some prestigious institutions, including XIM University, MDI Gurgaon, and IRMA.

    ONDC MD & CEO T Koshy said, “The ONDC team is delighted to welcome Anupama onboard. With her vast experience and proven expertise across diverse sectors, notably her instrumental roles at IKEA, Tata Steel, and PepsiCo, we are confident that she will be a key asset in enhancing ONDC’s commitment to corporate governance, risk management, compliance, and investor relations. We eagerly anticipate the valuable contributions she will bring as we continue to strengthen our commitment to excellence and responsible business practices within the ONDC Network.”

    Expressing her enthusiasm for the role, Anupama Priyadarshini stated, “I’m excited to be a part of ONDC, which aims to make digital commerce more inclusive and accessible on a large scale for the country. By assuming the responsibilities of my new role, I foresee a tremendous opportunity to be a part of the evolutionary journey of a democratic ecommerce ecosystem. ONDC’s focus on leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure to benefit the masses through innovation and technology mirrors my values. I look forward to collaborating with this exceptional team to drive excellence as the network continues to grow and expand.” 

  • Puretech Digital appoints Parthiv Majmudar as vice president

    Puretech Digital appoints Parthiv Majmudar as vice president

    Mumbai: Puretech Digital, the award-winning, full-service digital agency headquartered in Mumbai recently announced the appointment of  Parthiv Majmudar as VP operations, delivery & client engagement. This strategic move underscores Puretech Digital’s commitment to its long-term vision and its holistic approach to growth.  

    Parthiv, an industry veteran with over 18 years of experience joins Puretech Digital from his previous role as VP – ecommerce at ManipalCigna Health Insurance. His distinguished career has been marked by a consistent track record of successfully building digital platforms and solutions up from scratch and scaling them using online channels and analytical insights.  With a rich experience of business development, operations and demand generation, Parthiv has also held key positions at brands such as ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, BankBazaar India.

    Being a business funnel expert, Parthiv’s role at Puretech Digital will be to bring in the necessary integration across all service lines as a one team one experience framework for their clients and ensuring the team delivers highest quality of work with business impact.

    Expressing his enthusiasm for his new role, Puretech Digital VP Parthiv Majmudar stated, “I am honored to join Puretech Digital and grateful to be part of building its growth journey. The agency’s reputation for excellence in the digital space is well-renowned, and I look forward to playing a key role in its continued success.”

    Puretech Digital CEO Prashant Deorah commenting on the appointment shared, “Parthiv’s extensive experience and innovative mindset makes him a valuable addition to our leadership team. His experience and expertise will be instrumental in driving our agency’s growing business and deliver exceptional results for our clients. A lot of the innovation in our business lies in its delivery and operations. We want to continue to build on our robust operational excellence and deliver our promise.”

    With its current initiatives, the agency is steadfast in realizing its vision of pioneering integrated and digitally adaptable solutions that bring significant value to clients.

  • Roopa Badrinath curates ‘Pathways to Inclusive Leadership’

    Roopa Badrinath curates ‘Pathways to Inclusive Leadership’

    Mumbai: HR veteran and ex-chief talent officer of Wunderman Thompson  South Asia, Roopa Badrinath who launched her diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) consultancy – Turmeric Consulting in August has curated a bespoke program ‘Pathways to Inclusive  Leadership’. The program looks at the merits of a diverse workforce that is resilient, operates fearlessly, and recognises and harnesses the potential of everyone under an army of inclusive leaders across the organisation. While giving some pointers to interrupt biases, the program shines the light on the importance of acknowledging privilege and power and deploying it for the good of under-represented people. It delves into why people take mental shortcuts and how some daily workplace decisions in the employee lifecycle are impacted by unconscious biases leading to exclusionary practices. Gleaning from her vast experience in the A&M industry in helming the talent function for about 15 years across two large multi-national communications conglomerates, Roopa will be curating a series of programs that will benefit the A&M industry immensely.

    The uniqueness of this program is its ability to help the leaders connect the disparate dots into a  cohesive narrative. The program helps leaders establish the link between business success in a  VUCA world and DEI; how DEI and ESG are indelibly connected; reflect on the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) DEI Charter for change, Global Media Charter, Planet Pledge, Sustainable  Marketing 2030, UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and World Economic Forum’s audience representation maturity framework. The program also sheds light on the role of biases,  identity, intersectionality, identity-based stereotyping, privilege, and power in pursuing inclusive leadership.  

    Commenting on the uniqueness of the program, Turmeric Consulting founder and principal consultant Roopa Badrinath said, “Just having a diverse workforce without embedding inclusion into the DNA of the organization is like putting the cart before the horse. The dividends of having a diverse workforce can be reaped only with an inclusive culture. Creating an inclusive culture requires the ongoing commitment of employees at all levels more so the leaders to drive a  cultural shift.

    ‘Pathways to Inclusive Leadership’ aspires to rouse the collective conscience of all people leaders in creating an inclusive culture where diversity and equity thrive, creating a sense of belonging and leading to deep employee engagement which in turn results in positive business outcomes.

    “While the industry has been conscientiously working on improving representation across levels,  it might be missing out on a critical aspect to make diversity thrive. And that is Inclusion. Inclusion fosters an environment of mutual respect where differences are valued and welcomed. On the other hand, Equity ensures that all individuals have access to the same opportunities while being treated fairly,” added Badrinath.

  • QYOU Media appoints Raj Mishra as India Group CEO

    QYOU Media appoints Raj Mishra as India Group CEO

    Mumbai: QYOU Media Inc., operating in India and the United States has announced the appointment of digital leader and strategist, Raj Mishra, as Group CEO of QYOU Media’s India operations overseeing all business units, with immediate effect. Mishra will focus on increasing operational and financial synergies and strengths among the three primary business units as the company further pivots in India into digital distribution and direct-to-consumer initiatives.

    Raj Mishra was appointed to QYOU’s board of directors on 30 May 2023 and brings a strong track record of driving business growth and profitability in the mobile, media, and entertainment sectors. With over 13 years of experience and a background that includes senior management roles in building some of the most successful app businesses in Indian market history, Mishra specializes in go-to-market strategies, sales, marketing, business growth, and profit and loss management in India’s evolving social media landscape.

    Mishra’s career highlights include his instrumental role as the first employee at Musical.ly in India (now TikTok), leading it to over 60 million monthly active users. As the country head for both Musical.ly and later for TikTok following their acquisition, he fostered growth for ByteDance in India, established local teams, cultivated business partnerships, and nurtured the creator community. Under his leadership, Musical.ly became the most downloaded app on Android and iOS app stores. He subsequently oversaw the rebranding transition from Musical.ly to TikTok after its acquisition in 2017 wherein it became quickly established among the most downloaded apps in India with 610 million downloads in India alone in less than three years representing over a quarter of all global downloads. In 2019, he took on a new challenge within ByteDance where he was spearheading strategy for their newly launched suite of products, including the app Helo while closely working with the core global teams at ByteDance to help further strengthen their overall go-to-market strategy. Following that experience, Mishra joined Triller as the country GM and India head, laying the foundation for its expansion in India and the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, Mishra was consulting for a number of digital and gaming companies including QYOU’s India business units, where he provides strategic and revenue generation strategies and tactics for growth.

    QYOU Media CEO and co-founder, Curt Marvis commented, “We are thrilled to have Raj on board to direct the next phase of growth for our businesses in India. Working with him as a consultant to QYOU India over the last several months, it became clear to me and the Board that his skill set and experience were directly applicable to our overall business objective to become a larger brand with more direct to consumer initiatives in India.  This includes our most recent launch of the new freemium version of Q GamesMela. In addition, Raj’s understanding and knowledge of how the creator economy works, as a result of his roles at both Musical.ly and TikTok are invaluable for us as we build a creator-centric brand and business.  His appointment to oversee our entire operation in India launches a very exciting new chapter in our history.”

    Speaking on the appointment, Raj Mishra added, “I joined the board of QYOU Media because I was excited about the size and scope of the opportunity for which they have already built the foundation. In working directly with the business since that time, I now know that the potential is even greater than I had first realized.  There is a tremendous amount of hard work, coordination and execution ahead and we have only scratched the surface of what is possible for QYOU. I have shared with Curt and the Board my thoughts on how I see the business unfolding and expanding in the coming years.  I can’t wait to get deeper into working with the executive management and employees at all the business units and to help QYOU raise the India business to a level of success we all know is possible.”

    QYOU Media business units in India include QYOU Media India which includes the broadcast and CTV channels, the influencer marketing business Chtrbox Technologies and Maxamtech Digital Ventures’ gaming  business.

  • Google India welcomes Shekar Khosla as VP – marketing

    Google India welcomes Shekar Khosla as VP – marketing

    Mumbai: Google India has appointed Shekar Khosla as VP – marketing.

    Bringing nearly 30 years of experience, Khosla comes from Kellogg Company, where he served as the chief commercial officer, overseeing digital transformation, revenue growth management, sales, and marketing for nearly nine years.

    He was with Unilever for 20 years in various leadership roles.

  • Sebi contemplates Supreme Court Appeal After SAT Rules in Favor of Punit Goenka

    Sebi contemplates Supreme Court Appeal After SAT Rules in Favor of Punit Goenka

    Mumbai: After the Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) overturned the Sebi order that imposed a one-year ban on Punit Goenka, the CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL), prohibiting him from holding managerial and directorial positions in listed companies, reports are suggesting that the market regulator may contemplate appealing to the Supreme Court. Additionally, there are indications that the Zee board might soon convene to discuss Goenka’s status in light of the favourable SAT ruling.

    Previously, the tribunal had barred Subhash Chandra, the Chairman of the Essel Group, and Goenka from assuming significant or directorial roles for a year, alleging that they had redirected funds from the listed entity for personal benefit. Following this, Goenka appealed the Sebi order to SAT, which has now quashed it.

    With SAT’s decision to invalidate Sebi’s directive, industry observers believe that it could expedite the Zee-Sony merger, as the company is no longer burdened by the legal uncertainties that were previously a source of concern.

  • Simran Hoon steps down as QYOU Media India CEO

    Simran Hoon steps down as QYOU Media India CEO

    Mumbai: QYOU Media India CEO Simran Hoon has decided to move on from her current role at the company. During her tenure, Hoon’s leadership as the company’s maiden CEO has been instrumental in scaling the company to new heights and spearheading its expansion. Her strategic insights and unwavering commitment have guided the growth for QYOU Media India into a dynamic brand that resonates with its audiences. Hoon’s guidance has played a significant role in shaping QYOU Media India as a brand known for its creativity, innovation, and forward-thinking approach in the media and entertainment landscape.

    Simran Hoon took the helm as CEO in 2021 and in a very short span of time, expanded QYOU Media India’s footprint across linear and digital business with the launch of channels and apps. She also oversaw the strategic acquisition of key media assets, forging partnerships that allowed QYOU Media India to reach new audiences and diversify its offerings.

    Speaking on the development, QYOU Media CEO and co-founder Curt Marvis said, “The Board of Directors and I want to thank Simran for all of her determined efforts and accomplishments on behalf of QYOU Media in India. During her time with us we have furthered the foundation and scale of our business across the board and we wish her the best in all of her new endeavors.”

    Looking back at her journey at QYOU Media India, Simran Hoon said, “It has been an incredible journey leading this company along with a team of talented professionals who are truly committed to pushing the boundaries of media and entertainment. I am grateful for this opportunity and shall cherish the learnings in leading India’s youngest and fastest-growing media and entertainment company.”