ITV

Tag: APAC Region

  • IAA Global re-elects Pradeep Dwivedi as VP & area director of APAC region for 2022-24 term

    IAA Global re-elects Pradeep Dwivedi as VP & area director of APAC region for 2022-24 term

    Mumbai: Eros Media World Group CEO Pradeep Dwivedi has been re-elected as the VP and area director for the International Advertising Association (IAA) APAC region for 2022-24. He will continue to be a member of the Global board of directors. This was announced in a communication by IAA World Board elections committee chairman Heather Leembruggen.

    A senior media industry professional with nearly three decades of experience in advertising, media, telecom & technology, banking & financial services, and automotive sector businesses.

    Pradeep Dwivedi is currently vice president and director of the IAA India chapter.

    He currently also serves as a managing committee member of The AdClub of India (TAC), co-chairperson of Effie Awards India organised by TAC, member of the CII national committee on media & entertainment, member of the media & entertainment committee of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and additionally as an honorary member of the IBG Chamber of Commerce.

    Pradeep Dwivedi said, “I am truly humbled and honoured by the faith reposed in me by APAC chapters and the Global Board. I must thank Ramesh Narayan for setting the stage as my esteemed predecessor in leading IAA APAC wonderfully during the previous tenor and Srinivasan K Swamy, former chairman & world president, IAA Global  for inspiring me to take on this mandate again.”

    “The APAC region has amazing potential and I look forward to working with all the Chapter presidents, including Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, S. Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taipei and new emerging chapters to take the ideals of the IAA forward and collectively ensure that IAA remains the leading compass of marketing communications globally in a post-pandemic world, even as we thrive on the amazing confluence of creativity and technology in our industry with social impact as a key tenet,” he added.

    Former IAA chairman and world president Srinivasan Swamy said, “I am delighted to congratulate Pradeep Dwivedi on being re-elected as our area director and vice president for Asia Pacific for the next two years. He has been an integral part of the IAA India chapter for over a decade and has been leading many initiatives while building a world-wide network with his commitment to IAA. I wish him all the very best in continuing this leadership mandate at IAA Global.”

    IAA APAC region’s former vice president & area director Ramesh Narayan said, “I have always believed in advertising as a force for social good, and our actions in IAA India and at IAA APAC Region have been a testimony to that ideal. I am happy that Pradeep will move the agenda forward with sustained zeal and continue our sincere endeavour as a leading industry association.”

  • dentsu APAC appoints Christina Lee as CTO

    dentsu APAC appoints Christina Lee as CTO

    Mumbai: dentsu Asia Pacific on Wednesday announced the appointment of Christina Lee as chief technology officer (CTO), effective 4 April. 

    In her role, Lee will be responsible for providing overarching technology strategy, industry-leading capabilities and solutions to enable business growth and drive day to day operations through transformational business and technology initiatives, said the statement.

    Based in Hong Kong, she will report directly to global CTO Dominic Shine, and be part of both global and APAC senior management teams, it added.

    “Christina is a committed leader who is passionate about organisational design, understands the problems that will be faced during hyper-growth, and is energised by solving these problems,” commented Dominic Shine. “She brings with her strong experience and a successful track record in driving significant transformational change through technology across organisations, as well as in the delivery of data and digital products. I look forward to having her on the team.” 

    Bringing with her over two decades of senior leadership experience in information and digital technology, Lee has a strong track record of consulting and industry experience in strategy, business transformation, business partnership, vendor management and solution delivery, as well as aligning and advancing IT as a tool and driver for business of Fortune 500 multi-national brand companies.

    Prior to joining dentsu, she held senior leadership roles at Kering Group as APAC chief information officer and L’Oréal as South Asia Pacific Chief Information Officer, where she led IT for the most strategic and complex region and successfully established the tech organisation strategy for APAC.

    “I have ambition for technology to be a champion of change for brands and businesses to optimise their business practice, and also be a strategic partner to help business to get maximum benefits from the data and technologies,” said Christina Lee. “dentsu values technology and innovation at the heart of its culture and I could not be more excited to be working together with this incredible, high performing team of technology professionals.”

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  • Pixis names Neel Pandya as CEO for Europe business

    Pixis names Neel Pandya as CEO for Europe business

    Mumbai: Pixis (formerly known as Pyxis One), a provider of contextual codeless AI infrastructure for complete marketing optimisation, on Thursday named Neel Pandya as chief executive officer of its operations in Europe, in addition to his responsibilities of leading the APAC business.

    Pandya joined Pixis in its Bengaluru office as the APAC CEO in July 2021. “Under his leadership, Pixis witnessed a 185 per cent growth in revenue in the APAC region, with India independently recording 150 per cent of growth. Over the last seven months, in addition to greatly stabilising customer churn, Pandya has also been instrumental in adding close to 30 new enterprise customers,” said the company in a statement.

    “Neel has been doing a remarkable job navigating and growing the business in APAC. In addition to the new volley of customers we’re signing up, we’re also seeing record retention rates with our existing customers,” stated co-founder and global CEO Shubham A Mishra. “Over the last few months, we’ve been noticing steadily increasing traction in Europe, and I believe we have the right person in Neel to lead our Europe business.”

    As CEO of Pixis’ Europe business, Pandya’s key responsibilities will include leveraging existing traction in the region to profoundly grow the business and brand. 

    Weighing in on his appointment, partner at Chiratae Ventures Venkatesh Peddi added, “Neel’s success in the APAC region is testament to his belief in the Pixis vision, as well as his charisma as a leader. His prior experience with the European markets will serve him excellently in executing and staying on top of the expansion roadmap.”

    Pandya is a seasoned leader who possesses the global experience and a deep understanding of consumers in APAC and Europe. Prior to Pixis, he exemplified vast professional capabilities at L’Oréal, Vodafone and GroupM. Additionally, he was named one among India’s Top 40 under 40 Most Disruptive Minds, two years consecutively, and has also served as the youngest media head of all times at L’Oreal and Vodafone.

    “The past seven months at Pixis have seen my learning curve grow steeply, and I’m beyond honoured at being given the responsibility to grow the Europe business now,” said Neel Pandya. “The continent is currently undergoing an interesting and exciting phase in marketing. In fact, digital advertising spends alone have amounted to over 69.4 billion Euros, making it the second-biggest market after the US. I’m thoroughly looking forward to building strong teams that can support us in growing our European operations.” 

  • NDTV Convergence signs 10-year, Rs 750-crore deal with Taboola

    NDTV Convergence signs 10-year, Rs 750-crore deal with Taboola

    Mumbai: NDTV Convergence has signed an exclusive 10-year deal with Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover content they may like.

    The decade-long deal is based on mutually-determined projections, including growth in traffic, and cumulatively can enable revenue of Rs 750 crore for NDTV Convergence contingent upon it meeting the targets assigned for different stages of the 10-year period, said the statement.

    This deal gives NDTV Convergence access to Taboola’s full portfolio of offerings for personalised content recommendations, editorial planning, monetisation, and growth strategies. In addition, NDTV will leverage Taboola Newsroom, an advanced readership insights technology that leverages AI to power editorial processes, it added.

    In 2018, NDTV Convergence signed a five-year deal with Taboola, which was at the time among the biggest-ever advertising deals for the Asia-Pacific region. “Taboola has been a significant cornerstone of our business. We prize our seven-year-long association with them because they consistently demonstrate their support for independent journalism,” stated NDTV Group president Suparna Singh. “Taboola’s tools including those that we use in our newsroom make the best use of AI and new technology to ensure our content is flanked by terrific options for our readers to discover and learn more.”

    NDTV Convergence will be testing an e-commerce integration that provides a new revenue stream via Skimlinks, a Taboola company. With Skimlinks, NDTV Convergence can complement its premier content with e-commerce, said the statement.

    “We are seeing NDTV truly innovate by using recommendations, AI and data for growth,” said Taboola CEO and founder Adam Singolda. “They have been a true partner since 2014 and have shown they are very leaned in to continue to make NDTV a top news destination. What sets NDTV apart is a truly holistic approach to growth, which uses nearly every one of our publisher offerings to keep readers engaged and spending more time with them. We look forward to helping them grow over the next 10 years.”

  • Wunderman Thompson appoints James Hammond as APAC head of healthcare

    Wunderman Thompson appoints James Hammond as APAC head of healthcare

    Mumbai: Wunderman Thompson has announced the appointment of James Hammond to the newly created role of head of healthcare for the APAC region. Hammond is currently based in Hong Kong and shall begin his new assignment in November, said the company in a statement.

    Hammond previously worked with WPP Health Practice International as APAC client lead and global client EVP for close to a decade. He then went on to J-lab Asia where he forged an independent network of healthcare agency partnerships across the APAC region as principal. During the same time, he was simultaneously working with Klick Health USA as a regional partner.

    “James brings with him a deep understanding of the unique needs of the healthcare industry in APAC. We are thrilled to have such a prolific industry leader drive our health practice forward,” said Wunderman Thompson International CEO Ewen Sturgeon.

    With over 25 years of experience, Hammond has led agencies across the United States, North Asia, and Australia, working with large multinational brands such as J&J, GSK, Nestle, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Gilead.

    “This is a very exciting time to be joining Wunderman Thompson. The agency has built a unique offering at the intersection of creativity and technology. I believe this is a great fit for healthcare clients looking to build more integrated customer experiences,” said Hammond. “We have big ambitions in this region as we continue to build our consumer healthcare business and extend our offering to prescription healthcare clients.”

  • Vijay Anand Kunduri named PubMatic regional VP – OTT business, APAC

    Vijay Anand Kunduri named PubMatic regional VP – OTT business, APAC

    Mumbai: PubMatic, a sell-side platform for digital advertising, announced the appointment of Vijay Anand Kunduri as regional vice president for its OTT business in APAC.

    Kunduri’s role will be to accelerate the growth of the PubMatic OTT and video business across the region; consulting with existing publishers, creating new relationships, and further establishing PubMatic as a preferred platform for media buyers and publishers, said the company in a statement.

    The appointment comes as PubMatic continues to expand its commitment to the development of the OTT marketplace. “We are thrilled to welcome Vijay to the PubMatic team,” said PubMatic chief revenue officer – APAC Jason Barnes. “We have been building an innovative OTT business in the APAC region, which we plan to further accelerate under his leadership.”

    Kunduri was last associated with the video advertising company Unruly as managing director in Asia. He brings more than two decades of experience working with leading broadcast, video-on-demand, and digital companies across Asia Pacific.

    In the last decade, he has helped to establish American and European ad tech companies in the Asia-Pacific region, including setting up Adotube, a video ad network, in Southeast Asia, and spearheading Switzerland-based Viewster’s move into the VOD (video-on-demand) and OTT markets in the region.

    “There has been explosive growth in the adoption of connected screens and consumption of streaming content in the region,” said Kunduri. “Brands and OTT publishers have a tremendous opportunity to engage consumers and find new revenue with programmatic partners like PubMatic that offer the optimal combination of technology and premium advertiser and content partnerships.”

  • MullenLowe Lintas India CEO Joe to move on in Sept-end

    MUMBAI: MullenLowe Lintas Group India group chairman and CEO, and south & southeast Asia regional president Joseph George (Joe) has decided to move on from the agency network at the end of September 2017. After an uninterrupted stint of over 26 years with the company, where he played numerous Growth, Brand management, Client management and Leadership roles locally, regionally and globally, he now plans to pursue what he calls “his big dream”.

    Alex Leikikh, Global CEO, MullenLowe Group, said, “Joe has made such a huge contribution to the MullenLowe Group network during his 26 years within the organisation that it really is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to him. During his recent tenure, Joe has led MullenLowe Lintas Group to huge success within India, across the APAC region and on a global stage. The agency has been credited with many firsts for India including, the best new business performer for 4 years in a row, the number one Creative Agency in the World by WARC 100 (twice), consecutive double-wins at 4A’s Jay Chiat Awards and runner up for AdAge International Agency of the Year 2015. On behalf of the entire MullenLowe Group network I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Joe who has built and led our business in India and South and Southeast Asia so successfully. He leaves behind a great team, legacy and business poised for even greater future growth.”

    Joseph George joined Lintas India in 1991, and has been with the company throughout its journey of evolution; from Lintas India to MullenLowe Lintas Group today. Joe was appointed India CEO in 2011; and while continuing to be based in Mumbai, took on the additional responsibility of running the South Asia & Southeast Asia region for MullenLowe Group in 2016. He also serves on the Global Executive Committee of the MullenLowe Group network.

    During his 6-year leadership, MullenLowe Lintas Group grew into one of the most powerful agency groups in India. Outperforming the industry right through this period, on business growth, organizational reputation as well as on creative output. It was also during this period that MullenLowe Lintas Group emerged as the most consistently dominant performer in Market Effectiveness across the world. He was also the chief architect of the launch of the 2 new Indian agencies from the MullenLowe Lintas Group – Mullen Lintas in August 2015 and the recently launched PointNine Lintas.

    Joe said, “MullenLowe Lintas Group in India today is in the best shape it’s been in for a very long time. I couldn’t be moving on at a better time, and any happier or prouder with what the 1000 of us have managed to achieve these past years. Alex and I have worked closely over the past 8 months on the transition plan; and with the road map and the leadership in place for all three agencies of MullenLowe Lintas Group, I am confident that our agency network in India is ready to author its next chapter of success.”

    On the India transition planning, Alex added, “One of Joe’s greatest strengths has been his ability to develop world class business and creative leaders. Those people will now step up to continue our progress and evolution in one of the world’s most dynamic and important markets.”

    In his 18-month leadership of the South Asia & Southeast Asia markets, Joe focused on creating stronger and tighter management structures across the offices. He led IPG’s agency-acquisition in Sri Lanka and subsequently its overall transformation; the re-structuring of the MullenLowe Thailand and Vietnam operations, as well as putting in place the leadership and brand and business strategy for the MullenLowe Singapore office. Succession plans for Joe’s Southeast Asia responsibilities are in advanced stages of finalization, and will be announced by global CEO Alex Leikikh in the coming weeks.

  • Mullen Lowe Lintas India’s Joseph George given additional duties for South & SE Asia

    Mullen Lowe Lintas India’s Joseph George given additional duties for South & SE Asia

    MUMBAI: Lowe veteran Joseph George, who is currently Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India group CEO has been given the additional responsibility to South & Southeast Asia regions. 

     

    George will report to Mullen Lowe Group global CEO Alex Leikikh.

     

    George said, “I’m absolutely thrilled by the challenge of taking on an additional leadership role within the APAC region for the Mullen Lowe Group. Having worked within the network for over two decades, I clearly love the spirit: distinctive, entrepreneurial, collaborative and creative.”

     

    George has been with the Lowe network for 24 years – joining Lintas Mumbai in 1991 and spending the next 15 years between the Mumbai and Bangalore offices. He took over as the head of the Unilever business in 2006, and successfully led the growth of that business and a few specialist marketing services divisions until his appointment as deputy CEO in June 2010, and subsequently as CEO in January 2011.

     

    Leikikh added, “Joe is exactly the leader we need as part of our hugely dynamic Asia operation – he is a seasoned professional with a proven track record of growth. A key component of his role will focus on tapping into the resources of the robust India operation that he has built up in order to develop our hyperbundled offering across the Southeast Asia markets.”

     

    George added, “I’m absolutely thrilled by the challenge of taking on an additional leadership role within the APAC region for the Mullen Lowe Group. Having worked within the network for over two decades, I clearly love the spirit: distinctive, entrepreneurial, collaborative and creative.”