ITV

Tag: CEO

  • Isobar’s Shamsuddin Jasani joins Wunderman Thompson South Asia as CEO

    Isobar’s Shamsuddin Jasani joins Wunderman Thompson South Asia as CEO

    Mumbai: Wunderman Thompson has appointed Shamsuddin Jasani as chief executive officer for South Asia, effective 1 November.

    Jasani will report directly to Wunderman Thompson International CEO Ewen Sturgeon. “We are pleased to have Shams join our Wunderman Thompson leadership, and believe he is the natural successor to continue propelling our South Asia business forward,” said Sturgeon.

    The development comes on the back of chairman and group CEO – South Asia Tarun Rai moving into a new role as executive director of strategic initiatives, APAC.

    Jasani is a veteran of the industry, having launched Isobar in India in 2008 and growing it from a two-person team to over 300-strong across South Asia. Under his leadership, his team has been recognised as one of the top digital agencies under the Brand Equity Agency Reckoner and won multiple awards including ‘Digital Agency of the Year India’ for three times. Jasani was also awarded ‘Digital Agency CEO’ by Media Ace and has been featured on Impact Magazine’s ‘Digital Power 100’ list, two years in a row.

    “It’s a great honour, but an even greater responsibility, to join such an iconic brand as Wunderman Thompson, with an amazing legacy. I am really excited to not only continue this legacy but to take it to greater heights with the combination of creative, data, commerce and technology,” Jasani commented. “I believe at Wunderman Thompson we have all the ingredients to be the partner of choice for the growth and transformation of brands and business in India.”

  • Madison Media Plus CEO Rajul Kulshreshtha moves on

    Madison Media Plus CEO Rajul Kulshreshtha moves on

    Mumbai: Madison Media Plus CEO Rajul Kulshreshtha, who joined in June 2019, has reportedly moved on from the agency. Sources confirming the development said that Kulshreshtha put in his papers two months back and this is his last week at the agency.

    Kulshreshtha has more than two decades of experience in the industry. He started his career with Universal McCann in 1992 and left the organisation after a decade in 2002 as vice president – media services. 

    In 2004, he joined GroupM as general manager – team LG. In 2006, he became the managing director of GroupM agency – Motivator and in 2008, he was promoted to GroupM MD, a position he held till 2010. In 2012, he quit GroupM to join Kinetic India as managing director.

    In 2013, he moved on from Kinetic and started his own media agency Xposure. In 2018 he launched The Consilium a media and marketing consultancy.

    His next move is not known yet.

  • 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.

  • Jay Pandya joins Legend Global Studio as CEO

    Jay Pandya joins Legend Global Studio as CEO

    Mumbai: Jay Pandya has joined media company Legend Global Studio as chief executive officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

    Prior to this, Pandya was associated with OTT platform Zee5 where he was head of content acquisition and partnership for more than five years. He previously worked with TAM Media Research as director of clients acquisition for over 10 years.

    Pandya commands over 16 years of experience in content strategy, content acquisition, content creation, business planning, digital strategy, research, new business development, budgeting, P&L management, and client servicing to the media industry as a whole.

    Established in 2015, Legend Global Studio is producer Sandeep Singh’s independent media production company that bankrolled films like “Sarbjit,” “Bhoomi,” and “PM Narendra Modi.”

  • Tae-Jin Park named MD and CEO of Kia India

    Tae-Jin Park named MD and CEO of Kia India

    Mumbai: Kia India on Friday announced that its executive director and chief sales and business strategy officer Tae-Jin Park will assume the role of Kia India managing director and chief executive officer, with effect from 4 October. Park will succeed Kookhyun Shim who played a crucial role in introducing the Kia brand in India, it said.

    In his new role, Park will be responsible for the company’s growth and market expansion in the country. He will lead the India operations and directly oversee the entire manufacturing, product strategy and development, business planning, and sales. He has been associated with Kia India since January 2020. “It is my honour and absolute privilege to lead India operations and take the Kia story in the country forward, building upon the strong foundation laid by Shim,” Park said.

    In his illustrious career spanning over three decades, Park has gained immense knowledge of global business environment and his expertise lies in penetrating new markets. He said India is a strategic market for Kia and has the potential to foster growth for the brand globally. “In our short journey in India so far, we have achieved many milestones and these achievements are a testament to our commitment to bringing a revolution in the auto industry by making a difference across the entire auto ecosystem,” he added.

    Prior to his association with Kia India, he served at the headquarters of Kia Corp as head of operations for the Middle East, Africa, and Asia based in Seoul, South Korea. He has also served at Kia Mexico as chief sales officer. He has been associated with Kia Corp since 1987.

    “Our ambitious targets will not only challenge us but will also help us establish India as an important sales, production, and research & development hub for Kia,” Park said.

  • Viacom18 appoints Jyoti Deshpande as CEO

    Viacom18 appoints Jyoti Deshpande as CEO

    Mumbai: Viacom18 on Thursday appointed Jyoti Deshpande as chief executive officer with immediate effect. She serves on the boards of Network18 and investee companies Balaji Telefilms and Saavn Media.

    In her new assignment, Deshpande will help bring synergies across all of Reliance’s media interests and investments and further equip the company to drive significant growth opportunities as the industry embraces digital transformation, said the statement.

    “Viacom18 is poised to grow as a truly integrated media company across broadcast, OTT and content studio business spanning general entertainment, movies and sports across languages,” said Network18 chairman Adil Zainulbhai. “Given Jyoti’s rich experience in the media sector around content, distribution and monetisation across traditional and emerging platforms, we believe she is best placed to lead the company and its operations.” 

    Deshpande brings over 27 years of experience in the media and entertainment business. Prior to this, she joined Reliance Industries in 2018 as president – media platform and content, after having successfully built a leading media company and pioneered its early disruptive entry into the OTT space. As a business leader in Reliance, Deshpande in the last three years, has leveraged her industry relationships to establish Jio Studios as a key player in the media value chain.

  • Sandeep Dahiya moves on from Times Group

    Sandeep Dahiya moves on from Times Group

    Mumbai: Times Lifestyle Enterprise CEO and Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd (Times Group) director of brand extension Sandeep Dahiya has decided to move on from the organisation. According to a statement, he will continue to be with the group till mid-November, for a smooth transition.

    Dahiya spent eight years at the media conglomerate, spearheading the launch of its legacy brands into newer consumer categories. 

    “It’s been a great journey over the last eight years – of learning, leading, and growing. Working closely with Vineet Jain has been a privilege, and have much to thank him for my growth and learning here,” Dahiya said, confirming the development.

    At Times Lifestyle Enterprise, Dahiya led the Times Group’s foray in the beauty space, with the launch of Femina Flaunt Studio Salon – a company-owned, company-operated format, in Mumbai.

    “With so much happening in the fashion and beauty space – new consumer awareness, newer platforms, and exciting business-building frameworks, it’s time for me to explore newer challenging avenues,” he further said.

    With over 25 years of experience, Dahiya joined the Times Group from Viacom18, where he spent eight years, heading its consumer products business – creating a scalable & sustainable business model in new categories for brands and IPs of MTV, Nickelodeon, Vh1, and Colors.

  • Madhav Sheth elevated to lead realme brand expansion in Latin America

    Madhav Sheth elevated to lead realme brand expansion in Latin America

    Mumbai: Chinese smartphone brand realme has elevated its vice president (VP) and India and Europe CEO Madhav Sheth to spearhead the company’s business operations in the Latin America region.

    Under the new designation of realme VP and India, Europe and Latin America CEO, Sheth will lead the product, marketing, brand-building, and sales functions in these regions, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

    In Mexico and Brazil, realme will prioritise product development, which is always a top priority for the company and will aim towards building a strong local workforce in the Latin American region. In addition, realme will optimise its market and channel strategies in Mexico and Brazil.

    “Under Sheth’s stewardship, realme has ascended to the top five vendors in Europe in Q2 2021 as per Strategy Analytics, and the company plans to do the same in Mexico and Brazil next year,” the brand said.

    According to a report by Counterpoint Research, realme now ranks among the top six smartphone brands globally. It is the fastest brand ever to reach 100 million shipments in the history of the global smartphone market, as per Strategy Analytics. The brand ranks among the top five smartphone makers in 18 markets in Q2 2021, as per Canalys.

    “The foray into a new and promising market reflects realme’s vision to bring trendsetting technology and leapfrogging performance to the consumers in the region, enabling it to achieve its ambition of gaining dual 100 million users by 2023 and build its way to a leading tech brand,” realme said.

  • Roopam Garg elevated to CEO of dentsu X India

    Roopam Garg elevated to CEO of dentsu X India

    Mumbai: Dentsu India has elevated Roopam Garg to the role of dentsu X (dX) India CEO, effective immediately. He will continue to report to CEO for media South Asia Divya Karani.

    Garg, who has been in the role of chief operating officer (COO) of dX India for five years, will now lead the media agency and accelerate its growth, said the agency in a statement.

    “We are living in exciting times, with many new progress prospects ahead of us. I am confident that under Roopam’s leadership and his intuitive ability to assemble highly motivated teams, the best days are yet to come,” said Divya Karani.

    During his role as COO, Garg played a key role in accelerating dentsu X’s growth. He brings over two decades of experience in communication/media holding senior leadership roles spanning across five regions/markets India, MENA, China, Vietnam and London. Prior to this, he has held senior leadership roles as Publicis Groupe Vietnam managing director of and ZenithOptimedia Group India COO.

    In his new role as CEO, Garg will be responsible for carrying forward the learnings of seamless integrated consumer and brand interaction to drive holistic communication planning for clients’ businesses. Aligned with the global plan of transforming into the world’s most integrated group by 2024, dX India’s growth story will further accelerate dentsu India 2.0.

    “dentsu X’s stature and growth is a result of our data-driven design, our commitment to deliver ‘experience beyond exposure’, and our deep client-agency partnership in effecting business outcomes. Along with our team, I look forward to accelerating our growth momentum,” said Garg.

  • FCB Cogito elevates Vidyadhar Wabgaonkar as CEO

    FCB Cogito elevates Vidyadhar Wabgaonkar as CEO

    Mumbai: FCB Group India has announced the elevation of Vidyadhar Wabgaonkar as the CEO of FCB Cogito, the independent consulting arm of the Group in India. The announcement comes as part of the Group’s recent restructuring of operations in a three-agency structure of FCB Ulka, FCB Interface, and FCB India.

    Vidyadhar Wabgaonkar, popularly known as Wabs, has been leading FCB Cogito for over four years now. An engineering gold medalist and a rank holding MBA from IIM Kolkata, Wabgaonkar comes with a rich marketing background that includes stints in P&G India and MARICO Industries. According to the Group, his expertise lies in the seamless combination of qualitative and quantitative aspects and the application of tenets of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to marketing and business management. He is also a certified life coach and a Master Practitioner of NLP.

    Under Wabs’s aegis, FCB Cogito Consulting has come to be known for its strong proprietary products like ‘Chess’ for getting clients ready for competition and future and ‘Brand Hormone’ for rejuvenating brands, it said in a statement.

    The Group is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and this elevation comes in at a very crucial time when the agency is looking forward to the next 60 years in India, it added.

    Speaking on Wabgaonkar’s elevation, FCB Ulka vice-chairman Karkare, said, “FCB Cogito has been the secret weapon in our armory. It represents our capability to solve higher-order problems for our clients with data and insight-driven solutions. It is our intellectual capital, and a means to provide strategic partnership to our clients.  Wabs always brings a fresh perspective, and in today’s times, his unique skills are going to be invaluable to brands as they navigate uncharted terrains.”

    Speaking on his new role, Wabgaonkar said, “ FCB Cogito believes that most clients have the resources required to be successful. It is the paradigm that connects the resources that often need evolution. ‘Why buy me’ is the most important question that each brand needs to answer, and the answer frequently lies well beyond the tangible aspects of the brand. A good answer and a consensus around it, together multiply the force of selling and marketing manifold.”