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Tag: appointment

  • Melorra appoints Kushal Singh as head of marketing

    Melorra appoints Kushal Singh as head of marketing

    Mumbai: Melorra, a homegrown D2C brands designing BIS hallmarked and trendy fine jewellery has announced the appointment of Kushal Singh as head of marketing. Prior to this, Singh was with Domino’s India as vice president – marketing.

    In this new role, Singh will be responsible for leading the brand, marketing and growth strategy for Melorra, said the statement. “He will also help in strengthening brand communication and building capabilities that help scale Melorra’s omnichannel play,” it added.

    Singh’s vast experience with companies such as Carlsberg, Domino’s and ITC will enable him to design and execute integrated marketing programmes that are in sync with the times – something that Melorra is already focusing on.

    “Growing at 200 per cent CAGR, Melorra is one of India’s fastest growing D2C brands. With over 15500 plus designs we have the largest range of trendy fine jewellery available online globally and have become synonymous with the style statement of millennial women,” stated Melorra founder and CEO Saroja Yeramilli. “We witnessed a surge in demand even during the pandemic. As we now enter global markets, we are happy to onboard Kushal Singh to spearhead our marketing efforts. He understands the pulse of our target audience and has incredible credentials of working with renowned brands.”

    “I have always cherished working with brands that endeavour to fulfil customer expectations and market gaps through high-quality products. Melorra has grown rapidly to become one of the most loved lightweight and trendy fine jewellery brands among modern Indian women,” said Kushal Singh. “The international appeal of the designs and the out-of-the-box and highly impactful operational strategies at Melorra have been setting trends in the market. I am glad to be leading Melorra’s marketing efforts and look forward to leveraging my expertise in technology-driven brand growth.”

    Before coming on board at Melorra, Singh has worked with brands like Carlsberg Group, and ITC in various capacities. He has a BE in electronics and communication from Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology and a post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.

  • Carat India onboards Aruni Panda as VP – digital

    Carat India onboards Aruni Panda as VP – digital

    Mumbai: Carat India, from the house of dentsu India, has strengthened its leadership team for North and East. The agency has appointed Aruni Panda to lead these regions as vice president – digital.

    In his new role, Panda will lead strategic thinking and oversee agency clients on the digital front, reporting into Carat India CEO Anita Kotwani. He will work closely with the office head of the regions – Carat India executive vice president – planning Dipika Bhasin.  

    Panda brings over 15 years of experience and is an ardent practitioner of ad-tech tools, programmatic media planning & buying, social media & content marketing, digital customer experiences management, customer acquisition and web analytics. Prior to this, he was with GTB (part of WPP’s network of companies) where he held the position of AVP and senior digital media director, handling digital media planning, buying and execution.

    In his previous roles, Panda has been instrumental in helping brands and organisations develop digital marketing ecosystems by an outcome-led planning approach for the brand and the business. He has worked with brands like PepsiCo India and Ford India, to name a few across categories like FMCG, automotive, real estate, entertainment & sports, ISP & connectivity solutions, and IT-enabled executive education & training. Panda has re-positioned businesses as digital-first by setting up business-aligned digital ecosystems. He has also implemented and integrated seamless interplay between ad-tech and mar-tech stacks.  

    “With the changing dynamics of the media eco-system and a strong focus on digital across the clients of Carat, we felt it to be imperative to bring in a seasoned professional like Aruni to lead the digital mandate. His expertise across the full-funnel marketing will be an advantage that we would like to leverage across our existing and new client fold,” said Anita Kotwani, commenting on the appointment.

    Dipika Bhasin added, “Aruni’s experience will charter current and new growth with our partners. He will hold a strong commitment to driving Carat’s digital practice and the integrated media offerings of dentsu India. We are extremely happy to have him as part of the team!”

    “I am elated to embark upon this new journey with Carat India, an agency already known for its integrated approach backed by cutting-edge data tech and tools. It is critical to map, plan and build the right digital approach in this ever-evolving digital space for our clients to thrive into the future. I am looking forward to being a part of Carat’s growth story under Anita’s leadership and partnering with clients in their digital endeavour with the combination of media, data, commerce and technology,” commented Aruni Panda.

  • Kinnect launches CX practice, appoints Bharatesh Salian to lead

    Kinnect launches CX practice, appoints Bharatesh Salian to lead

    Mumbai: Digital media company Kinnect on Wednesday announced the launch of its customer experience (CX) practice. The agency has named Bharatesh Salian as senior vice president – marketing science and CX, who will be heading this new division.

    The CX practice will provide meaningful brand interactions throughout the consumer journey. It unites nearly 100 of Kinnect’s creative, media, and technology talent pools across locations.

    “Kinnect CX will provide e-commerce and order management solutions, CRM, loyalty and first party data management programs, platform consulting and implementation services, ML, AI & data led solutions, omnichannel consumer experience journeys and web 3.0 solutions. The offering will help partner with clients towards their digital transformation journey and fuel their customer-centric ambition,” said the agency in a statement. “Deployment of a complete state-of-the-art usability testing lab is in the works and will be operational by 2023,” it added.

    “Kinnect has strong partnerships with brands across experience design, CRM, and data delivery, but what we realised is it could be more effective together—with the client, at new business, in sharing best practices and unlocking new doors,” commented Kinnect CEO Rohan Mehta. “According to today’s new reality, people are accustomed to online experiences and expect them to translate as smoothly and effectively as they would in person. Through the KinnectCX network, we’ll be able to more efficiently and smoothly put together a bespoke team for each opportunity, with expertise in strategy, design, analytics, technology and content.”

    Saliana is a seasoned professional with more than 22 years of experience in the digital media and customer experience space. His past stints have been with large networks such as Publicis Groupe, Omnicom Media Group, and IPG. 

    “Times have changed, and marketing online has hit a revolution,” remarked Bharatesh Salian. “It’s no longer about the one-sided conversation but rather about building relationships and having conversations with our consumers in a hyperconnected world. It’s also about pushing the boundaries to understand your consumer better and make communication plans carved out of customer journeys.” 

  • Wondrlab bolsters leadership team with two key appointments

    Wondrlab bolsters leadership team with two key appointments

    Mumbai: Homegrown platform-first martech startup Wondrlab has appointed Siddhyesh Narkar as chief technology officer and Shama Sayed as head of sales. By strengthening its technology and sales teams, the company is aiming for aggressive growth and to bolster its core business in the martech space. 

    Both Narkar and Sayed will be based in Mumbai and will report to Wondrlab co-founder and managing partner Vandana Verma. “We are heading towards extraordinary growth and expansion for the martech platforms by building a world-class technology and sales team. Both Narkar and Sayed are a perfect fit as their vision integrates seamlessly with our objectives,” Verma said. 

    Narkar has over 15 years of diverse experience in the technology industry. Before joining Wondrlab, he was CTO at Digitas and SapientRazorfish. At Wondrlab, he will oversee technology development across all products and platforms. “Wondrlab’s vision is to disrupt the way brands perceive communication. This role enables me to reimagine & build world-class technology innovations around the ever-changing technology landscape,” said Narkar.

    Sayed will lead business and partnerships with a core focus on disrupting the digital space. With over two decades of experience in broadcast and digital, she has worked with stellar brands such as Star, Sony, Investing.com. “I don’t think this opportunity could have come at a better time for me as martech becomes even more dynamic than ever. We plan to employ technological innovations that will help scale-up and expand so that we can reach our goals and continue to offer unique solutions to brands,” stated Sayed.

  • CoinSwitch ropes in Havas Media Group India as media AOR

    CoinSwitch ropes in Havas Media Group India as media AOR

    Mumbai: Following a highly competitive multi-agency pitch, Havas Media Group India has bagged the integrated media mandate of India’s largest crypto investing app, CoinSwitch. This is the first major win for Havas Media Group India in the Southern market this year. 

    The mandate includes both offline and online duties of CoinSwitch and will be handled out of the Bangalore office, led by Havas Media managing partner – South Saurabh Jain, said the statement.

    “Crypto assets are a gateway to the future decentralised world, aka Web 3.0. Today’s digital-savvy Indians are willing to experiment with this emerging asset class,” commented CoinSwitch chief business officer Sharan Nair. “At CoinSwitch, as part of our mission to ‘make money equal for all,’ we are committed to improving user awareness and helping them make informed investment decisions using various mediums. We are delighted to partner with Havas Media. Their strategic, audience-centric, meaningful media approach will strengthen the effectiveness of our investor education initiatives, as we evolve into a wealth-tech destination of choice for Indians.” 

    CoinSwitch has raised $260 million in Series C funding from Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in September 2021, to become India’s most valued crypto unicorn at a valuation of $1.9 billion. In January, the company crossed 15 million registered users and now plans to deliver diverse investment options to its growing customer base.

    “We are proud to add a leading wealth tech unicorn CoinSwitch, that is helping users on their investment journey with crypto,” stated Havas Media Group India CEO Mohit Joshi. “We look forward to partnering the brand in their next phase of growth and building awareness, and reaching the right audiences using Havas’s proprietary tools, Meaningful Brands & Media Experience (Mx).”

  • Pickrr brings in Vineet Budhiraja as SVP – operations

    Pickrr brings in Vineet Budhiraja as SVP – operations

    Mumbai: Pickrr, a SaaS-based logistics start-up has announced the appointment of Vineet Budhiraja as senior vice president, operations. 

    In this role, Budhiraja will supervise the company’s overall operations, curate growth-centric strategies for client onboarding, maintain customer success, and drive the force for the company’s holistic growth, said the statement.

    With over 13 years of robust experience in the industry, Budhiraja comes with in-depth expertise in operations, product management, and customer experience. He has amassed knowledge of the logistics sector, e-commerce, B2B & D2C marketplace.

    “Vineet joins us at a time when Pickrr has already set foot on the growth accelerator, and with his help, we believe Pickrr will achieve more significant milestones and solve more problems for sellers in the D2C industry,” said Pickrr co-founder and CEO Gaurav Mangla.

    Budhiraja holds an MBA from the prestigious SJMSOM- IIT Bombay and a B-Tech degree from NIT Kurukshetra. With the experience of working with top industry players, he has a clear outlook on the role of tech-driven logistics and innovative operation strategies. Prior to joining Pickrr, he was the SVP of Lime Road and has also worked with Snapdeal and Amazon.

    “Joining a team of like-minded people committed to innovation is an excellent opportunity for me to keep growing,” said Vineet Budhiraja. “I hope to add significant value to Pickrr’s inspiring journey towards revolutionising the tech-driven logistic sector by up-scaling the company operations.”

  • Smaaash Entertainment appoints Shirish Kotmire as CEO

    Smaaash Entertainment appoints Shirish Kotmire as CEO

    Mumbai: Gaming and entertainment centre operator Smaaash Entertainment has announced the appointment of Shirish Kotmire as its new CEO.

    Kotmire brings about three decades of experience in aggressive growth-oriented mature global companies as well as successful new ventures and start-ups. “He is a quintessential growth hack that demonstrates entrepreneurial spirit in all his endeavours with innovation, team building, professional work ethic and techno commercial savviness,” said the statement.

    Based out of Mumbai, Kotmire’s immediate task will be to build a team of experienced CXO who shall anchor the transformation journey of Smaaash to create new benchmarks in this industry, the company said.

    “We are elated to have Shirish Kotmire in our team at Smaaash, he has experience in marquee retail, technology brands, and promoter-driven ventures,” said Smaaash Entertainment founder and chief imagination officer Shripal Morakhia. “At 63, I worked hard to resurrect Smaaash in the last six months. It was high time that a professional leadership team took over to guide Smaaash to new heights. The appointment of Shirish as the CEO is the first step in that direction. With his vast experience in creating value across businesses we look forward to his leadership to deliver same store growths as well as execute the blitzkrieg of new stores expansion nationally”.

    “I am honored and pleased to accept the privilege of heading Smaaash and strengthening the position of Smaaash as the fun, party, play, bonding and entertainment destination for informal friends’ groups, corporate and retail customers along with building digital engagement with them,” said Shirish Kotmire.

    He added, “Our consumers have grown up on Smaaash over the last 11 years and have a strong affinity to the brand. In our second inning, we are giving a classy environment along with a potent combination of gaming-bowling, go-karting, arcade and VR games along with a pocket-friendly resto bar to relax after a tiring but fun gaming time. To build stickiness and exploit opportunities in the growing gaming space, we are on the cusp of introducing exciting innovative formats in the physical edutainment space also”.

    Shirish holds a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from IIM Bangalore and did his graduation bachelor of technology computer engineering from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka. “With his vast skill set in monetizing assets by innovation in sales, marketing and technology it makes him the ideal choice as the CEO at Smaaash,” said the statement.

    His previous companies in leadership positions include Reliance Retail GVK-Mumbai International Airport, Bharti Airtel, Rediff.com and Asian Paints, among others. The top skills which his seniors and colleagues acknowledge are business development, financial planning, business strategy, and execution as well as team management.

    He is passionate about mentoring start-up co-founders as well as sharing his entrepreneurship leanings through skill-based courses as a visiting faculty in SPJIMR, Mumbai.

  • Madhur Acharya joins Lenskart as VP of e-commerce

    Madhur Acharya joins Lenskart as VP of e-commerce

    Mumbai: Wow Skin Science’s former executive Madhur Acharya has joined Lenskart as vice president of e-commerce. 

    Acharya quit the personal care brand as vice president of marketing after a three-year stint. He announced the move in a LinkedIn post.

    “Super stoked to announce my next stint as I join, Lenskart.com the brand that revolutionised the eyewear category in India. Elated to join this community of change-makers as I look forward to building and taking the brand’s vision to various marketplaces in India & International. Special thanks to India’s favourite Shark Peyush Bansal for this opportunity and not just inspiring me and millions of India’s youth, but also actively helping them achieve their dreams,” Acharya said in the post.

    Acharya joined Wow Skin Science in August 2019 as a senior business development manager, he was made its head of marketing in December 2020 and as its VP of marketing in July 2021.

    In his 12-year career, he has worked at places like Forest Essentials, Cobrapost, Postergully, Freecultr, iEntergizer, and Justdial.

  • Kaizzen appoints Soumya Dev as chief strategy officer

    Kaizzen appoints Soumya Dev as chief strategy officer

    Mumbai: PR agency Kaizzen has further strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointment of Soumya Dev as Chief Strategy Officer. 

    In this role, Dev will be working closely with Kaizzen founder and CEO Vineet Handa in driving the organisational strategy for the company, including new service offerings, footprint expansion, acquisitions and partnerships.

    Dev brings with him close to two decades of experience in the full mix of communications, spanning digital marketing, content marketing, public relations and multimedia production. He is a seasoned communications professional, having worked at Fortune 500 corporates in international roles as well as at best-of-breed communications agencies in India. Most recently, Dev was leading the digital mandate for PepsiCo’s Asia, Middle-East and North Africa operations.

    “Soumya is highly experienced and is credited for driving successful campaigns at the intersection of technology, data-science and compelling storytelling. Having him on board further strengthens our aspirations to transform Kaizzen into a knowledge-based and data-led communications consultancy,” said Vineet Handa. “We are investing significantly to add highly specialised expertise into our client offerings such as insights, integrated communications and advocacy, as well as toward expanding our domestic and international market footprint.” 

    “I am excited to join Kaizzen at a very exciting juncture of its growth journey. Kaizzen has a tremendous talent pool and a host of successful client relationships across sectors. It presents exciting possibilities to bring value to our clients and in driving the growth story of the company,” said Soumya Dev.

  • ReshaMandi bolsters leadership team, appoints Abhishek Kumar as SVP – Marketing

    ReshaMandi bolsters leadership team, appoints Abhishek Kumar as SVP – Marketing

    Mumbai: ReshaMandi, B2B marketplace digitising the natural fiber supply chain has appointed Abhishek Kumar as SVP – marketing and Subramanya Srikant as head of Human Resources.

    The company aims to extend operations, as well as move closer to its broader goal of shaping the ecosystem of natural fibres in India, it said in a statement.

    According to the company, Kumar will drive the end-to-end marketing strategy for the Group as well as all the brands under its umbrella. He carries a diverse experience of over 17 years and will be responsible for modernising marketing and advertising strategies to suit the post-pandemic era of digital and traditional media.

    “Our decision to strengthen the leadership team is a major step in our quest to expand ReshaMandi’s footprints across India,” said ReshaMandi founder and CEO Mayank Tiwari. “They bring with them a wealth of experience that will help us in driving our value proposition with the right blend of functionality, commitment and expertise.”

    In his previous stint as VP- Digital at Edelman, Kumar has worked with brands such as Lakme, Flipkart, PayPal, among others. Prior to that, he was associated with Aviva Life Insurance, Yahoo!, Radio Mirchi & Ogilvy in various capacities but primarily focused on communication strategy, content & branding, stated the brand. “We have a solid business model in place that’s weaving an incredible story around availability, accessibility and profitability for all the stakeholders. Telling this story to a larger audience is a privilege and I am humbled to market a brand like this both from the point of view of the B2B and B2C audiences. We are here to create a definitive brand that we hope will be a part of our pop culture too,” said Kumar.

    Meanwhile, Subramanya Srikant carries two decades of industry experience in the execution of employee strategy, end-to-end HR initiatives/programs and service delivery management to align with major organisational priorities. Previously, Subramanya was the head of HR at Riversand Technologies, a Data management company. He started his career working as an IT developer for Telecom giant AT&T and spent the first 12 years of his career working for fortune 100 companies mainly in the Technical domain, said the brand.

    “I am excited to join Reshamandi as it is a company focussed to helping farmers and small-time rural businessmen enabling Technology,” he said.