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Tag: Ashutosh Srivastava

  • Stepathlon strengthens advisory board with renowned industry leaders

    Stepathlon strengthens advisory board with renowned industry leaders

    Mumbai: Global fan engagement and data platform Stepathlon welcomes four new esteemed advisors to its already impressive advisory board:

    . Jim Glover is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in global partnerships and client relationships. He previously served as deputy chairman at CSM Sport and Entertainment, where he played a key role in driving growth and success

    .  Ashutosh Srivastava, a renowned media and entertainment expert with extensive experience as former CEO of GroupM in APAC, who brings deep understanding of fan engagement, content creation, and brand building

    .  Nextdoor co-founder and CTO Prakash Janakiraman, who brings his expertise in leveraging data to drive business growth and unlock the power of user insights and personalize experiences.

    . Advait Pandit, a seasoned technology leader with over 20 years of experience building high-growth companies, comes in with his experience as Chief Architect at JioMart. His experience in product development, market strategies, and scaling operations will be crucial as Stepathlon expands its reach.

    Stepathlon founder and CEO Ravi Krishnan said: “We are privileged to welcome Jim, Ashutosh, Prakash and Advait to the Stepathlon Advisory Board. Their diverse expertise aligns perfectly with our vision for business growth. Their insights and guidance will be instrumental in creating innovative experiences that connect with audiences on a deeper level and to drive qualitative and quantitative benefits for our business, our clients and their stakeholders.”

    Excited to collaborate with Stepathlon, the advisors shared their perspectives.

    Jim Glover stated: “Throughout my career, I have witnessed the power of sports to unite communities and inspire individuals. Stepathlon’s innovative approach to fan engagement leverages this power to create meaningful experiences that go beyond the game. I’m thrilled to join the team and contribute my experience to help them unlock the full potential of their platform and connect with fans in even more impactful ways.”

    Ashutosh Srivastava added  “I’m passionate about the power of storytelling and community engagement, and Stepathlon’s platform has the potential to create truly transformative experiences for fans. I’m excited to contribute my expertise to deepen their audience connections and enhance engagement.”

    Prakash Janakiraman added “I see Stepathlon as a platform brimming with data potential. Its commitment to ethical collection and personalized experiences resonates deeply with my values. Leveraging my expertise in uncovering  user insights and driving data-driven growth, I’m excited to join the team and help Stepathlon realise its full potential to create positive change for fans, rightsholders, and brands alike.”

    Advait Pandit added: “The ability to scale and adapt to a growing audience is crucial for any successful platform. Stepathlon’s unique proposition lies in its flexibility and inclusivity, and I’m excited to bring my experience in building scalable technology solutions to support their expansion plans. I believe that by optimizing both the user experience and operational efficiency, we can further harness the immense potential of Stepathlon to engage and connect with even wider communities.”

  • Himanshu Shekhar to lead in Vietnam at GroupM

    Himanshu Shekhar to lead in Vietnam at GroupM

    Mumbai: GroupM has announced that Himanshu Shekhar, currently CEO of GroupM Indonesia, will lead the organisation’s Vietnam business.

    He succeeds Neil Hardwick, who is returning to the UK to take up a new role outside WPP, said the company in a statement.

    “Himanshu is an exceptional leader with a phenomenal track record,” stated GroupM’s APAC CEO Ashutosh Srivastava. “He is a hands-on leader who is passionate about this business, builds trusted relationships with clients, and always puts people and culture first.”

    Shekhar has been based in Indonesia since March 2010 when he joined as the managing director for Mindshare’s business with Unilever. He was later promoted to CEO of Mindshare Indonesia in December 2011. Whilst at the helm of Mindshare Indonesia, he delivered consistently strong growth for the agency and positioned Mindshare as the market leader in digital transformation. In 2018, he was promoted to his current position, GroupM Indonesia CEO.

    Shekhar said he is excited to take up the role and looks forward to working closely with clients, teams, and media partners in Vietnam to unlock strong and sustainable growth.

  • Mindshare elevates Prasanth Kumar, Amrita Randhawa to global roles

    Mindshare elevates Prasanth Kumar, Amrita Randhawa to global roles

    MUMBAI: Mindshare, the global media agency network, has announced two major leadership changes for its growth markets region.

    Prasanth Kumar has been promoted to the position of CEO for MENA and Africa in addition to his current role as the CEO for South Asia whereas Amrita Randhawa has been promoted to Asia Pacific CEO. Randhawa was previously the CEO for Mindshare Greater China. Both roles are effective immediately. They will continue to work with the executive chairperson and CEO for growth markets, comprising APAC, MENA, Africa & Russia/CIS Ashutosh Srivastava.

    Commenting on his appointment, Kumar says, “This recognition in the context of the strong talent profile we have built in the purple family means a lot to me as it reflects our commitment to focus, serve and collaborate with our clients fuelling their business growth. Marketing is morphing and so are we in terms of how we think, act and behave for our clients and their business outcomes. This expanded role gives me the opportunity to widen my perspectives and cross-pollinate our learning and initiatives for smarter, faster, better practices for our clients and our purple talent.”

    Kumar was previously the CEO for South Asia, where he oversaw rapid expansion in the market bringing the agency to a dominant position according to RECMA. During his time as the Mindshare India CEO he developed a record for not just the most number of new business wins by a single market, but also a tradition of external accolades, which included such highlights as a Glass Lion at Cannes and an average of over 250 external awards per year.

    Commenting on the appointment Randhawa mentions, “We often say Mindshare has an Asian heart with our first office being in Taiwan. Asia is the star of our network and I take this responsibility with an incredible sense of humility. Sitting at the crossroads of data, content, technology and analytics, this is the time for the media agency. Working with the incredible leadership team we have in each of the APAC clusters especially in Himanshu, Katie and PK, our focus will be to ensure that Mindshare is ahead of the pack and charts the path for what is possible for media agencies today and tomorrow. The media landscape is changing in every corner of Asia at an incredible speed and working with the amazing breadth of talent we have in this region to create our future is a phenomenal opportunity.”

    Randhawa will remain based in Shanghai, where she will continue to manage Mindshare China as its executive chairperson, in addition to her overall Asia Pacific duties. She has been with the agency for over 12 years working across the Delhi, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai and APAC regional office in Singapore. During her time in China, she oversaw the elevation of the agency to its current dominant position topping every league in the market including the RECMA qualitative and quantitative leagues, R3 AgencyScope and making the China office the global lead contributor to Mindshare’s new business wins. She has also since taking on the remit of Greater China last year and worked with the leadership in both Taiwan and Hong Kong to transform both markets. Randhawa’s leadership has been recognised at several forums including the inaugural Women Leading Change Awards, Campaign 40 under 40, Ad Age China’s Women to Watch and Campaign’s Greater China Agency Leader of the Year.

    In her new role, she will focus on the agency’s product, especially delivering the balance of brand and demand services for marketers and ensuring that Mindshare adapts and evolves in line with client’s needs first and not agency agendas.

     

  • Mindshare launches emerging markets growth hub – FAST

    Mindshare launches emerging markets growth hub – FAST

    MUMBAI: Mindshare APAC has launched FAST Hub (Future Adaptive Specialist Team) in Singapore, supported by EDB, to enable brands to benefit from the growth opportunities appearing in emerging markets.

     

    FAST brings together the best of WPP as well as industry leading companies and products including GroupM, Kantar, WPP Data Alliance, CrayonData and Jivox, to build sector specific solutions to enable marketers to use real time insights to drive real time marketing and media actions, including hyper-targeted content creation and distribution.

     

    The launch is a response to the increase in data availability and the parallel rise in data and technology led marketing opportunities such as programmatic and performance advertising that leverage this data.

     

    Targeting the consumer packaged goods (CPG), banking, consumer healthcare, telecoms and automotive sectors, FAST will allow clients to adopt and implement adaptive marketing strategies covering programmatic, performance marketing, customised data alliances, digital analytics, data management platforms (DMP) and real-time marketing.

     

    The Singapore FAST hub is anticipated to grow to a 63 members outfit over the course of the next three years, and the six teams will lead the product development for this suite of services for all growth and emerging markets for Mindshare’s clients, wherever they are in the world.

     

    Mindshare Asia Pacific COO Gowthaman Ragothaman said, “The industry is still grappling with a deluge of data. We want to help simplify this for our clients and provide them a bespoke solution that solves their business problems. The role big data plays for a CPG company is totally different to the influence it has on the banking sector or auto industry. Our ability to provide customisation is one of the key differentiators for FAST.”

     

    Mindshare AMEA, Russia & Emerging Markets chairman & CEO Ashutosh Srivastava added, “The talent to drive these services is scarce, but Singapore provides FAST with a thriving ecosystem for learning and development. Together with EDB’s support, this will immensely benefit Mindshare and our clients, help brand marketers find more effective and profitable opportunities for growth, and also develop young Singaporean talent for the data-driven marketing world. For the young talent, this is a great opportunity to work together with some of the brightest minds in the business, and do the best work of their career.”

     

    Commenting on this partnership, Singapore Economic Development Board assistant managing director Kelvin Wong said, “When you look at how mobile, social and e-commerce are changing the behaviour of Asia’s consumers, it is clear that brand owners are turning to their agencies with a very different set of needs. Mindshare, by centralising a suite of data, technology and domain-centric capabilities, is well poised to serve global clients who require specialised expertise in the growth and emerging markets. We welcome the establishment of Mindshare’s FAST hub, and look forward to building Singapore’s digital marketing ecosystem from strength to strength.”

  • Mindshare awarded Global Mobile Agency of the Year by MMA

    Mindshare awarded Global Mobile Agency of the Year by MMA

    MUMBAI: Mindshare has won the most desired ‘Global Mobile Agency of the Year’ title during the Annual Global Smarties Awards 2015 organised by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).

     

    The 2015 MMA Global Smarties Gala held at Pier Sixty in New York City celebrates and awards best-in-class mobile work across the globe.

     

    Mindshare Asia Pacific won five awards across multiple categories and clients in the global competition namely:

     

    . The Ghost is Calling, Silver, Brand Awareness, Mindshare Malaysia

    . Bond of Love on the Mother’s Day, Bronze, Relationship Building / CRM, Mindshare Pakistan

    . How Zespri Got Kids Across China to Slice 18 Billion Kiwis, Gold, Marketing Within A Mobile Gaming Environment, Mindshare China

    . The Language of Hair, Gold, Mobile Social, Mindshare Vietnam

    . Lifebuoy Flood, Bronze, Location Based, Mindshare Indonesia

     

    Mindshare global CEO Nick Emery said, “We are delighted to be the global mobile agency of the year, especially with such outstanding competition. A mobile first approach is central to our adaptive strategy and the geographical breadth of our awards across many clients is testimony to our success.”

     

    MMA CEO Greg Stuart added, “Most marketers tell me they really want and need their agencies to keep up and lead in mobile – the best we heard was Mindshare.”

     

    Mindshare Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Russia & Emerging Markets chairman & CEO Ashutosh Srivastava said, “We are proud of the work that is emanating from our region. The APAC market is unique, diverse and innovative. Most of the countries are ahead of the game in the mobile arena. The combination of our understanding of the ecosystem coupled with our capability to solve real world challenges results in such award-winning work.”

     

    Mindshare has already been named Mobile Agency of the Year 2015 in both, China (1 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze) and India (7 Gold, 5 Silver and 4 Bronze) at The Smarties.

  • Mindshare expands Emerging Markets Group under Ashutosh Srivastava

    Mindshare expands Emerging Markets Group under Ashutosh Srivastava

    MUMBAI: Mindshare chairman Asia and CEO Emerging Markets Group Ashutosh Srivastava has now been given the added responsibility of the Middle East and Africa.

     

    The change comes as Helen McRae is appointed Mindshare UK CEO, a role she will combine with her responsibility as chair of Mindshare Western Europe, representing Europe on the GroupM Europe board. McRae’s Africa responsibilities will now pass to Srivastava, whose extended remit will cover APAC, Russia, the Middle East and Africa.

     

    Mindshare global CEO Nick Emery said, “Ashutosh continues to broaden his scope and influence as all our best people do. I’m delighted that his influence will now have a direct effect on Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We will be all the richer for it.”

     

    Srivastava added, “The intent of this is to more strongly connect the growth markets together in the same way that many of our clients have organised themselves and so helping them unlock that growth through a strong, joined up network of resources.”

     

    At the same time, Christof Baron will take on the role CEO of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to drive Mindshare growth in the region and oversee the international development of German based clients. Baron will also continue his role as non-executive chairman of Mindshare Germany.

  • Mindshare is the number 1 media agency in India: RECMA ratings

    Mindshare is the number 1 media agency in India: RECMA ratings

    MUMBAI: Mindshare has emerged as the number one media agency in India as per RECMA’s latest qualitative assessment for all leading media agencies in India.

     

    Mindshare has scored high on the parameters of client profile, momentum, competitive pitches and resources to emerge as the leading agency in India. Besides its expertise in core traditional media, Mindshare is a full- fledged media solutions agency with expertise across digital, mobile media, data and analytics, branded content and programming. Talents across these verticals are embedded in the network and work closely with core client teams.

     

    Mindshare chairman, emerging markets Ashutosh Srivastava said. “I’m pleased to see this endorsement from RECMA for the agency’s position in India. Mindshare continues to be at the leading edge there – in harnessing data to power more creativity and innovative use of media platforms for marketers, and bringing to life its proposition of adaptive marketing.”

     

    Mindshare Asia Pacific COO Gowthaman Ragothaman added, “I am particularly satisfied with the recognition on structure and vitality. We continuously re-engineer our teams in line with the changing demands from our clients as well as the media and marketing landscape. Our suite of services now reflects a full-fledged marketing communications company.”

     

    Mindshare South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar stated, “This is a win for each and every member of the Mindshare team. Mindshare has always been the leader in innovation, and we believe it is extremely vital for us to prepare ourselves and our clients for a relevant tomorrow.”

     

    “With our adaptive marketing philosophy, we have ensured our clients have the competitive advantage, and their communication is superlative. We are grateful for their belief in us, to deliver on our common goals of brand building. We are proud of the fact that our clients continue to work with us on initiatives that are continuously pushing the boundaries of media investment and communication, as we successfully redefine the media industry in India,” added Kumar.

     

    The RECMA country qualitative evaluations offer an extensive and up-to-date assessment of the media agencies based on a set of 18 key performance indicators segmented into two main categories: 

    ·       Compitches and Momentum = Vitality

    ·       Structure and Client Profile = Structure

  • Al Jazeera English now available on Reliance Digital TV

    Al Jazeera English now available on Reliance Digital TV

    NEW DELHI: Al Jazeera English is now available on Reliance Digital TV in addition to Dish TV and Tata Sky. The channel will be available on channel number 460.

     
    With this association, Reliance Digital TV viewers will be able to access Al Jazeera’s award winning and well acclaimed news and programme content from around the world at a click of a button. Globally, Al Jazeera English is available in over 260 million households across 130 countries.

     
    Al Jazeera Media Network marketing and distribution executive director Abdulla Al Najjar said, “We are delighted to be associated with Reliance Digital TV and are looking forward to cater to their subscriber’s base across India. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new viewers in India to Al Jazeera English on all our platforms. We are committed to provide the highest quality coverage of India, from the region, and from our bureaus in all corners of the globe.”

     
    Reliance DTH Business head Ashutosh Srivastava added, “It has been our constant endeavor to offer a wide range of content to our consumers that enhances their television viewing experience on Reliance Digital TV. Al Jazeera is a valuable addition to our platform that will provide a significant blend of both national and international news to our viewers.”

     
    Launched in November 2011 in India, Al Jazeera English is known for its belief in the shared humanity of the global community, and as a result keeps real people at the centre of the story.

     

  • Reliance Digital TV partners with The Vedic Maths Forum of India

    Reliance Digital TV partners with The Vedic Maths Forum of India

    MUMBAI: Reliance Digital TV has partnered with The Vedic Maths Forum of India to start up a Maths channel on its DTH platform. The World of Vedic Maths will be available on channel number 559 at Rs 112 on pay per subscription basis for five weeks.

    16 hours of content will be provided across five weeks, covering 35 topics. The shows are packed on a module basis and will be telecast every week. Said Reliance DTH business head Ashutosh Srivastava, “We are happy to provide our subscribers with the best of mathematics education through our association with The Vedic Maths Forum of India. We are confident that this partnership will enable our viewers to be part of a meaningful and fun learning experience of mathematics.”

    The Vedic Maths Forum founder president Gaurav Tekriwal said, “I am joyous to be able to reach out and share these concepts with the country’s students, teachers and parents in association with Reliance Big TV. This program will enable thousands of students to better their maths skills even in this age of calculators and computers. Instead of making kids love the math they hate, why can’t we make math something they love to learn?”

     

  • Mindshare promotes Sanchit Sanga as Digital Services head

    Mindshare promotes Sanchit Sanga as Digital Services head

    MUMBAI: Mindshare APAC has promoted Sanchit Sanga as Digital Services head for Asia Pacific.

     

    Based in Singapore, Sanga takes on the role after two years as digital leader for south Asia & south east Asia. His role is effective immediately.

     

    In his new role, Sanga will focus on the continued development and delivery of Mindshare’s digital services to marketers, working closely with the regional in-market digital leads and global teams.

     

    Mindshare continues to focus on expanding its digital services from digital performance product integration to working with GroupM partners like Vocanic to offer innovative social solutions, to building an in-house mobile marketing practice partnering with innovative start ups like Footmarks.

     

    As part of the drive to continually raise the quality of the digital product, Mindshare has increasingly focused on aspects such as precise audience targeting and multi-screen planning, working with partners like Crayon Data, Xaxis and the Mindshare Trading hubs.

     

    Sanga said, “‘I am excited to take on this role and become even more involved in Mindshare’s digital marketing ambitions. Having worked in the digital space for 15 years, I can think of no other agency globally which has the intellectual and organizational backbone to consistently win in this evolving arena. I’m especially looking forward to driving the ongoing expansion of our digital services offering both across the region and globally. Our products are increasingly involving cutting edge partners to drive excellence in digital innovation, and this makes this space an incredibly exciting opportunity as we work with our clients to deliver more and more effective growth and revenue driving options.”

     

    Global Growth Markets, Mindshare Worldwide global growth markets CEO and Asia Pacific chairman Ashutosh Srivastava said, “We are privileged to have highly talented people like Sanchit in the Mindshare family. Over the years, Sanchit has developed trusted relationships with our clients, which continually assists us to lead the industry in digital thinking. It is an exciting time to be in our business, where our understanding of media, technology and effective data usage is becoming more and more central to brand success.”