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Tag: business growth

  • Lockton India appoints Rahul Bhatia chief of staff for strategic growth

    Lockton India appoints Rahul Bhatia chief of staff for strategic growth

    MUMBAI: Lockton India locked in a power move as the world’s largest independent insurance broker appointed Rahul Bhatia as chief of staff, a strategic addition to its leadership as it sharpens its focus on business growth, operational efficiency, and strategic excellence.

    With over 17 years of experience spanning wholesale banking and consulting, Bhatia is stepping into this pivotal role with a wealth of expertise in strategy, operations, and financial planning. Translation? He’s got the chops to shake things up.

    Before joining Lockton, Bhatia made his mark at Deloitte and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) India, where he held leadership positions that had him steering strategy, operations, and governance. At Deloitte, he served as operations controller & chief of staff, overseeing key functions across multiple locations. Meanwhile, at FAB India, he played a crucial role in designing and implementing strategies, launching new projects, and reinforcing governance frameworks. Add to that his tenure at RBS India, and you’ve got a resume that screams ‘game changer.’

    As chief of staff, Bhatia will work directly with the CEO, advising on strategic initiatives and ensuring Lockton India’s business vision turns into reality. His mission? To fine-tune operations, optimise financial planning, and drive long-term growth. In short, he’ll be the brains behind the scenes making sure everything runs like a well-oiled machine.

    “Rahul’s vast experience in strategy, financial planning, and corporate advisory makes him a valuable addition to our leadership team,” said Lockton India CEO & country head Sandeep Dadia. “As we continue to scale our presence in India, his expertise will be pivotal in driving operational efficiency and strategic growth initiatives. We are excited to have him on board and look forward to the impact he will bring.”

    Lockton India has been on a mission to expand its presence and strengthen its client service capabilities. Bhatia’s appointment aligns perfectly with the firm’s long-term vision of delivering cutting-edge risk management and insurance solutions to businesses navigating an ever-evolving market. Expect bold moves, strategic pivots, and a whole lot of innovation ahead.

  • Amit Rathi hangs up his boots at Digital Turbine after nine years

    Amit Rathi hangs up his boots at Digital Turbine after nine years

    MUMBAI: Every book, no matter how extraordinary, must one day close to make way for a new tome.

    Amit Rathi, with over 20 years of expertise in digital media and advertising, is stepping down from mobile  advertising platform Digital Turbine as country manager -south Asia  after an illustrious tenure spanning eight years and 10 months. His departure is both bittersweet and inspiring-a poignant goodbye to a journey marked by relentless innovation, transformative teamwork, and collaborations that shaped the future of the industry.

    During his time at Digital Turbine, Rathi witnessed the transformative evolution of the organisation, from its beginnings as Opera Mediaworks to its transition into AdColony, and finally its integration into Digital Turbine. His leadership played a pivotal role in driving the company’s growth, particularly across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, where he built strong partnerships with leading agencies, brands, and publishers.

    He extended his gratitude to the APAC team for their camaraderie and dedication, “A special thank you to the Digital Turbine APAC team for your unwavering support—you made this journey truly special.”

    He also acknowledged the invaluable trust and collaboration of clients, agencies, and partners, “A heartfelt thank you to all the clients, agencies, partners, and brands I had the privilege of working with. This journey would have been incomplete without your trust and collaboration.”

    Rathi’s tenure at Digital Turbine saw the company emerge as a leader in delivering innovative mobile advertising solutions, leveraging technology to connect brands with audiences globally. He played a vital role in driving revenue growth, expanding market presence, and fostering a culture of excellence within the organisation.. 

    Prior to his time at Digital Turbine, spent a few of his formative years at Yatra Online, Sify, Rediff.com, Infomedia (formerly Tata Press Yellow Pages) and Integrated Databases (India Today goup) when they were all in their glory days. 

    As he embarks on the next phase of his career, Rathi expressed excitement for future challenges and opportunities. His extensive expertise in strategic planning, market development, and team leadership positions him as a formidable force in the evolving digital landscape.  

    The question being asked, however, is: what’s he going to do next?

     

  • Zenith India names Trishul Bhumkar as managing partner

    Zenith India names Trishul Bhumkar as managing partner

    MUMBAI: Zenith India, the media agency under Publicis Groupe India has appointed Trishul Bhumkar as its managing partner.

    Trishul will be reporting to Jai Lala and will spearhead business growth and momentum for Zenith India and its clients. He will strengthen client relationships further and mobilise with agility Publicis Media services including Content, Data, Analytics, Activation and Trade to maximise opportunities, visibility and ROI for brands.

    He brings with him a wide spectrum of experience on pedigreed brands including Coca-Cola, Vodafone, Marico, Danone, Pepperfry and Disney. His previous stints include Madison, erstwhile Maxus and GroupM Motivator and most recently saw him as Strategic Business Unit (SBU) head for Motivator (West).

    Zenith India CEO Jai Lala said, “Trishul is a dynamic leader with a track record that speaks for itself. He has been instrumental in new business success, fortifying relationships with clients and partners and driving exceptional growth and ROI for brands. In an ever-evolving market scenario, he brings strong thought leadership, strategic insights and substance to every brand conversation and is perfectly placed to partner with me in leading the agency into the next phase of growth and expansion.”

    Trishul said, “I am delighted at the opportunity. This is an exciting time to be joining Zenith India when the agency is witnessing strong momentum on new business and delivering outstanding performance on existing client businesses. I look forward to building further on the scale of operations, client delivery and leveraging Zenith India’s unique strengths in data, technology, content, and analytics to bring in unsurpassed growth for brands.”

  • HBO Max accelerates global footprint with 15 new European countries

    HBO Max accelerates global footprint with 15 new European countries

    Mumbai:  WarnerMedia’s streaming platform HBO Max is now available in 61 territories globally, after launching in 15 additional European countries. These new countries where HBO Max was launched on 8 March include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

    HBO Max launched in the US in May 2020 and is rapidly rolling out globally. In June 2021, it became available in 39 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean and in October 2021 it arrived in Europe, launching in the Nordics, Spain, and Andorra. The premium streaming platform continues its global expansion later this year, with launches set for Turkey, Greece, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. There are also plans for further expansion to Southeast Asia.

    HBO Max launches with attractive pricing and a promotion offering all customers in Central and Eastern Europe and Portugal more than 30 per cent off the monthly price for the lifetime of their subscription. In the Netherlands, it launches with two tiers, both at 50 per cent off the regular monthly subscription price for the life of the subscription. A monthly subscription to the standard tier (with HD 1080p, 4K, three concurrent streams, 30 downloads) is priced at €3.99 and a monthly subscription to the basic tier (with HD 720p, one concurrent stream, five downloads) at €2.99.

    “From today, HBO Max is streaming in 21 European countries with Central and Eastern Europe, Portugal and the Netherlands joining the Nordics, Spain and Andorra where we launched the platform last year,” said HBO Max EMEA general manager Christina Sulebakk. “Central and Eastern Europe is where it all began for our European business back in 1991 with our first linear channels and we’re pleased that today, more than 30 years later, we’re bringing fans in the region a completely new way to access all their favourite entertainment.”

    “In under 24 months we have built a scalable streaming business present in 61 territories and counting. International is going to continue to be an important part of our global growth story going forward,” commented HBO Max International head Johannes Larcher. “I am particularly proud that our presence in Central and Eastern Europe is further strengthened by today’s launch of HBO Max, and that we are doubling down on our strong commitment to fans, partners and employees across the region during this challenging time.”

    HBO Max is distributed as an app across devices such as Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, Google Chromecast, Roku and a host of smart TVs. WarnerMedia has also launched an ad-supported version of HBO Max which offers the service to consumers at a lower price. The streaming platform is expected to foray into India this year.

  • Lyxel&Flamingo promotes six leaders as partners amid business growth plans

    Lyxel&Flamingo promotes six leaders as partners amid business growth plans

    Mumbai: Lyxel&Flamingo (L&F), a Gurugram-headquartered digital-first marketing agency on Tuesday announced major restructuring of its leadership team. The company has elevated six homegrown leaders as new partners to further strengthen the focus on scaling its business pan-India.

    The company’s partner comprises of Nishant Singh (creative director – copy), Nishit Mohan (head of technology), Shivam Singh (team lead R&D), Hitanshu Gupta (solutions architect), Upesh Verma (head of e-commerce) and Ashish Sharma (delivery head). “The six newly-minted partners have already spent more than half a decade with the company and have risen through the ranks to now lead very important and profitable businesses within the L&F fold,” said the statement. 

    “We are incredibly proud to elevate six of ‘our own’ to partners as they represent what homegrown talent can do for the growth of any company. Having come up through the ranks, they embody & exemplify the strong cultural values our organisation is exceedingly proud of,” stated L&F co-founder and CEO Dev Batra. “A few of them began their professional careers with us and have soldiered on through thick & thin to have reached this pivotal point in their careers. They have demonstrated the same perseverance and other core values integral to L&F like any other partner has and hence, this elevation only makes natural sense.”

    The four original co-founders, Dev Batra (CEO), Yesh Miranda (CCO), Shreyansh Bhandari (COO) and Priya Batra (director – people strategy and growth), shall dilute as much as 20 per cent of their equity in order to help more than 30 leaders within their company become partners over the next three years in an industry-first restructuring and organisation building process, said the company in a statement.

    “As a team we have always had the unwavering belief that L&F has what it takes to grow into a globally relevant, multinational, marketing agency from India. To strengthen our mission of ‘Building For The Future’ and further build on our vision, the natural step was to groom the next generation of leadership within a structure where they hold more equity in the company & build on the momentum of growth & new competencies,” Batra further said.

    “The company’s growth culture is an integral part of our outlook. We focus on doing things passionately and always pushing the envelope – yet giving complete independence to our people to decide their own growth and enabling this in a decentralised manner,” commented Priya Batra. “This is where the six new partners are going to bring their expertise to the table – Building For The Future in the process- for brands & for the organisations alike.”

    In the last few years, L&F has established competencies across digital, social, analytics, tech, CRM and automation. The company has business spread across Gurugram, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Vancouver, Canada and Wyoming, US. 

  • Manish Kapoor named as Pepe Jeans India MD & CEO

    Manish Kapoor named as Pepe Jeans India MD & CEO

    Mumbai: Denim retailer Pepe Jeans London has promoted Manish Kapoor as managing director in continuation of his current role of chief executive officer, India. 

    According to a statement, India is one of the most crucial markets for Pepe Jeans and Kapoor will be instrumental in growing the existing businesses aligned with the broader global strategy.

    Kapoor joined Pepe Jeans India in 2014 and was promoted to the role of sales director within a span of two years. Owing to his strategic contribution towards the growth of the brand in the Indian market, he was elevated to chief business officer in April 2019 and subsequently appointed as CEO in September 2019.  

    “Under Kapoor’s leadership, Pepe Jeans India strengthened its balance sheet position by strategic reduction of inventory and debtors along with substantial reduction of debt. His effective leadership has enabled the company to successfully generate free operating cash during this difficult period,” said the brand in a statement. “E-com contribution for the brand accelerated from 8 per cent in 2019 to 28 per cent this fiscal year, reflecting the benefit of leveraging omnichannel initiatives,” it added.

    In 2021, Kapoor was recognised as The Economic Times Inspiring CEO for his efforts in helping steer Pepe Jeans to great heights even during unprecedented times of the Covid 19 aftermath. In the same year, he was also acknowledged for his efforts towards sustaining a high-trust high-performance culture by Great Place to Work – India’s best Leaders in Times of Crisis 2021.

    “I am delighted to lead Pepe Jeans India into the next phase of growth and continue on the digital and consumer-focused transformation journey that we started 18 months ago,” said Manish Kapoor on his appointment.

    Kapoor is a strategist and implementer with demonstrated abilities in accomplishing business growth on a consistent basis. He has previously held key leadership roles in brands such as French Connection, Sisley, Benetton India, Pantaloons and Madura Garments to name a few.

    He acquired a B-tech degree from the Technological Institute of Textiles and Science in 2000 and further continued to pursue a diploma degree in apparel marketing and merchandising management from NIFT in 2002. He was awarded the gold medal for academic excellence at NIFT and was an all-India topper in his PGDAMMM course across all NIFT centers.

  • Fastest growth in travel advertising to come from India: Zenith report

    Fastest growth in travel advertising to come from India: Zenith report

    Mumbai: Travel advertising is poised for rapid growth as brands reset their relationships with consumers after the great rupture of 2020, according to Zenith’s Business Intelligence – Travel report. The report, published on Monday, forecasts that travel advertising in 13 key markets, including India, will expand by 24 per cent in 2021, twice as fast as the advertising market as a whole, before 36 per cent growth in 2022. 

    Significantly, Zenith expects the fastest growth in travel advertising to come from India, where travel ad spend will be 31 per cent above the 2019 baseline by 2023. Here, rising disposable incomes mean more people are travelling, and existing travellers are travelling more frequently.

    Zenith forecasts digital ad spend by travel brands to grow by six per cent a year between 2019 and 2023. By 2023 travel brands will be spending 70 per cent of their budgets on digital advertising, an increase from 63 per cent in 2020.

    Travel advertisers spend more on digital advertising than the average brand – 63 per cent in 2020, compared to 58 per cent on average, as per the report. This is not surprising for a category that has been well ahead of the market in digital transformation, conducting 32 per cent of sales by e-commerce in 2021 compared to 20 per cent for retail as a whole.   

    “Travel was one of the earliest sectors to embrace digital as booking went online,” said Zenith global chief strategy officer Ben Lukawski. “Post-Covid, the best-performing brands will complete this transformation by making the total experience digital, from reducing form-filling to contactless entry, removing nearly all possible friction from the experience.”

    Digital travel advertising aims to capture consumers in the early stage of research, through search advertising and display and video ads within relevant content. As travel becomes ever more digital, digital advertising will become even more important for both brand building and conversion. Integrating travel apps with vaccine passports, using them to help consumers navigate local Covid-related rules and bureaucracy, and offering digital concierge services will accelerate the transition of travel towards a seamless digital experience, from initial research to enjoying the destination.

    Furthermore, travel advertisers spend substantially more of their budgets on newspapers, magazines and out-of-home than average (20 per cent in 2020, compared to 13 per cent for the average brand), and substantially less on television (13 per cent compared to an average of 24 per cent), the report observed. Consumers are looking for choice and value, so media that allow brands to display a range of options and some details of pricing are particularly effective. Travel ad spend in print is falling as circulations continue to shrink, but out-of-home is forecast to recover from its slump in 2020 and grow at an average rate of six per cent a year between 2019 and 2023.

    Pent-up demand for travel will drive rapid growth in travel ad spend over the next few years, but it will be a long road back to pre-pandemic spending. Travel ad spend will be still 33 per cent below its 2019 level this year, while the ad market as a whole will be seven per cent ahead, notes the report. It will take until 2023 for travel to exceed 2019 levels of spending when it will reach $19.6 billion.

    Travel advertising was one of the categories hardest hit by Covid-19. The travel ad market lost nearly half its value in 2020 (46 per cent), while the ad market as a whole shrank by just four per cent. Zenith estimates that travel ad spend fell from $18.0 billion in 2019 to $9.7 billion in 2020.  

    As global travel starts to recover, travel brands must rebuild their relationships with consumers as they adapt to the realities of post-Covid travel. Brands will have to refocus their communications on different audiences as they adapt to the decline of business travel as companies coordinate more international business with remote meetings, and address consumers’ concerns about the sustainability of travel, and adapt to the growing demand for low-carbon journeys.

    “As travel begins to recover from the unprecedented drop in demand in 2020, brands are rebuilding their relationships with consumers, using digital technology to guide them at every stage,” said Zenith head of Forecasting Jonathan Barnard. “Online video, in particular, will play a key role in creating emotional connections with consumers, inviting them to take their first step on their digital journey.”

    The robust US ad market is pushing up media prices, which is the main reason why travel adspend will be 13 per cent higher there in 2023 and in 2019. Other mature markets will range from +9 per cent to -9 per cent growth over this period, depending on consumer demand, media inflation, adoption of digital technology, and a myriad of other reasons. In all markets, though, the recovery of travel advertising from the slump in 2020 will be well behind the growth of the market as a whole.

    The thirteen markets included in this report apart from India are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UK, and the USA, which between them account for 74 per cent of total global ad spend. The report covers domestic and foreign travel for business and leisure.

  • Wondrlab secures $7 million in pre-series funding

    Wondrlab secures $7 million in pre-series funding

    Mumbai: Homegrown martech startup Wondrlab has raised $ seven million in a round of pre-series funding. The round was led by Pi Ventures LLP, Tanas Capital, Prodapt Holdings and several independent investors including Priyamvada Balaji of Lucas Indian Service and Gopal Srinivasan of TVS Capital.

    The startup will utilise its newly acquired funds towards driving inorganic growth, with a sharp focus on tech, digital, programmatic advertising and the building of world-class martech platforms, said the statement.

    “We thank our investors for their faith and belief in us as a team. We have always believed in challenging the status quo. We truly believe that our differentiated strategy of being platform-first is a great value proposition for our clients,” said Wondrlab founder and CEO Saurabh Varma. “We will continue to invest in building deep capabilities across digital business transformation, content, data and marketing tech platforms. The next six months will be key to building on our incredible momentum.”

    Founded in November 2020 by Saurabh Varma and co-founded by Vandana Verma and Rakesh Hinduja, the startup acquired What’s Your Problem, a media-agnostic creative agency founded by Amit Akali in December 2020.

    “We are excited about the vision of the team led by Saurabh Varma to create India’s first network. Their strategy of being platform first differentiates them. It is refreshing to see a world class team coming together on the back of a shared ambition,” said Narayanan, while speaking on behalf of Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office (NSFO).

    Malabar Capital Advisors were the bankers for the fund raise.

    “The proposition is truly unique. We are excited about being a part of this journey. Wondrlab’s focus on digital communication and DBT, always being platform-first and building world-class martech products will create incredible value for clients and eventually investors,” stated Amit Sharma, on behalf of Tanas Capital, Singapore.

  • India Inc and Republic TV join hands to present IGF-London ’21

    Mumbai: India Inc and Republic Media Network have come together to broadcast the coveted India Global Forum’s (IGF) flagship event from 29 June to 1 July. IGF, organised from London as a hybrid event, will bring together the premier political and business leaders to set the vision and ambition for the post-pandemic world. It will highlight the theme of ‘Future Now – Radical Actions for the Post-Pandemic Ara’.

    The event will host 200-plus high-profile speakers and participants from over 50 countries across the globe.

    A high-powered lineup of eminent speakers includes senior Indian cabinet ministers Dr S Jaishankar (External Affairs), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), and Piyush Goyal (Commerce), Nitin Gadkari (Transport), and Smriti Irani (Women, Textiles). Senior ministers and former leaders from the UK have also endorsed their participation – UK chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak, UK first secretary of state and secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs Dominic Raab, UK home secretary Priti Patel, Institute for Global Change ED & former UK PM, Tony Blair have also signed on the roster. 

     

    Michael Bloomberg (Entrepreneur; climate change activist and New York’s ex-mayor), World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and General David H. Petraeus (KKR Global Institute ex-CIA Director), and Isha Foundation founder Sadhguru are also part of the star-studded line-up.
     

    In keeping with the #FutureNow central theme, the sessions of the forum have been broadly divided across the sessions including climate action, digital future, global business, economic recovery, health & health-tech, securing supply chains, and global leadership.

    A series of power-packed sessions will cover every aspect of India’s ubiquitous role in ensuring the ‘build back better’ goals of the world’s leading economies are in harmony with India’s growth ambitions.
     

    London headquartered India Inc Group, founder and CEO, Manoj Ladwa said, “This year’s India Global Forum brings with it a sense of urgency and impatience about the radical actions needed now to shape a post-pandemic World. It is where the big global issues of climate change, economic recovery, and opportunity, digital transformation, and tackling new age imperialist and fundamentalist threats get debated.”

    “This is the biggest and most impactful gathering on India’s globalisation anywhere in the World. It is where the enterprise of a business leader meets the power of a politician; the curiosity of a scientist meets the ingenuity of an engineer; the wisdom of experience meets the impatience of ambition. It is quite simply where India meets the world, and the world meets India. We are therefore thrilled by this partnership with Republic TV in India that will take the ideas and ambitions of the Forum to the widest possible audience,” he said.

    “At Republic, we see great potential in the coming together of two great democracies: the UK and India. We believe that with an exchange of ideas and collaboration of minds, this transformative relationship has a game-changing future,” MD and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami said, whose Republic TV is the exclusive broadcast partner for IGF in India. “The purpose is to come together to ideate at this global forum on common geo-strategic, geo-political and economic interests. The level of discourse, the profile of the panels, and the global outlook of this forum is going to make it a remarkable event.”

  • Cohn & Wolfe India appoints Rafi Khan as CEO

    Cohn & Wolfe India appoints Rafi Khan as CEO

    MUMBAI: Cohn & Wolfe today announced that Rafi Khan has joined Cohn & Wolfe India (CWI) as its CEO. Khan who takes over with immediate effect will be responsible for all operations in India, providing strategic leadership and direction for business growth. He will focus on key client relationships while building the business in a sustainable and profitable manner in line with CWI strategy.

     

    Khan will report to Cohn & Wolfe CEO Donna Imperato and be supported by Megha Sharma, who oversees the Delhi office.

     

    Khan has over 19 years of work experience and has been steering pan India media management, corporate and marketing communication, brand creation/re-positioning, image turnaround, entry strategy, crisis management, events and product launches, social media as well as internal communication. He has worked with several high profile national and international brands such as Max India Group – Max Healthcare, Max Bupa, Max India and Antara Senior Living Ltd., Mahindra Comviva, Etisalat, American Express, Homeshop18, Yahoo, TripAdvisor, Virgin Mobile, Goodyear,  WeChat, International Cricket Council, Ten Sports and Hewitt Associates among others.

     

    Formerly, Khan was the deputy managing consultant at Text100 India, responsible for the Northern region, where he spent six years. He has also held several positions of leadership in his career such as head of communications for D S Constructions, one of the largest infrastructure developers in India; head of infrastructure advisory and director eastern region at Image Inc. (A part of the Perfect Relations Group).  An economics bachelors holder from Allahabad University, Khan started his career as an entrepreneur with his own business venture, which he successfully ran for seven years and later sold to a large multinational.

     

    “Rafi brings a valuable mix of agency operational and corporate leadership experience to our growing offer in India. His brand marketing expertise will prove indispensible in creating successful strategies for both local and multi-national companies,” said Imperato.

     

    Cohn & Wolfe started its India operations in June 2012 and has offices in Delhi and Mumbai and a strong affiliate network across India. CWI team has extensive experience in key domains including corporate, lifestyle, consumer, corporate social responsibility and social media domain.