ITV

Tag: CEO

  • BBH India onboards Himanshu Saxena as COO & MD

    BBH India onboards Himanshu Saxena as COO & MD

    Mumbai: BBH India, a Publicis Groupe agency, has announced the appointment of Himanshu Saxena as chief operating officer & managing director. Saxena will report to CEO, Leo Burnett-South Asia & chairman, BBH India Dheeraj Sinha.

    As BBH’s chief operating officer & managing director, Saxena will be responsible for developing talent, organisational tools, new services and steering these to acquire future-facing businesses.

    He brings over 29 years of experience across the communication spectrum, including advertising, marketing & sales, brand management, digital & social, PR, design, and market research.

    Saxena has helmed country and multi-office leadership for some of South Asia’s leading organisations, including Lowe, McCann, Trikaya Grey, JWT, Edelman, IMRB & Reliance Jio. Saxena’s passion for leading businesses to market excellence through powerful full-funnel solutions has led these agencies to win accolades at prestigious forums like APAC and India Effies, Cannes, Spikes, Adfest, Goafest, PRAXIS, and SABRE APAC. He has spearheaded creative solutions across iconic brands like Unilever, GSK, PepsiCo, Diageo, Asian Paints, Dubai Tourism, One Plus, Idea Cellular, Audible, and Starbucks, to name a few.

    Welcoming Saxena, Sinha said, “BBH India, with its legacy of modern, creative, and effective solutions that are well-entrenched in the modern Indian zeitgeist, has built a reputation as a creative firepower in the country. I am delighted to welcome Saxena onboard. A talented leader known for his deep client relationships, his commitment to business innovation, and his operational acumen, Saxena embodies the black sheep and zag philosophy that will further fuel this brilliant creative engine.”

    Speaking on his appointment, Saxena added, “I am both excited and honoured to join BBH. With its legacy of creating stunning work that has transformed not only brands but also categories, BBH India is truly built for the modern age of marketing. I am looking forward to scaling this further and bringing my experience and a fresh perspective to lead such talented individuals and ambitious clients.

    BBH India has grown into a creative powerhouse with offices in Mumbai and Delhi and a repertoire of highly effective, consistent, and modern marketing solutions spanning across advertising, design, digital, consulting, and experiential. The agency currently works with a diverse portfolio of brands like Marico, Red Bull, Nestle, Audi, Taco Bell, Mahindra Group, and L’Oreal, among many others. In 2022, BBH won mandates for Hitachi and Roposo and created campaigns like Disney+ Hotstar’s “Thoda Rukh Shah Rukh”; Mahindra Racing’s “Dance For Good” and Marico’s “Re-teach The Teachers.”

  • Yatin Mehrishi appointed as CEO of Mirchi, ENIL

    Yatin Mehrishi appointed as CEO of Mirchi, ENIL

    Mumbai: Entertainment Network India’s (ENIL) Mirchi, one of India’s largest city-centric music and entertainment companies, has strengthened its leadership position as it has announced the appointment of Yatish Mehrishi as its CEO.

    Prashant Pandey, who was previously managing director & CEO of Mirchi, ENIL, will continue his role and duties as managing director.

    Mehrishi will be spearheading the company’s performance across all dimensions and will continue to ensure Mirchi remains the audience’s go-to destination for all things music and entertainment.

    He is a seasoned professional with over 23 years of experience across diverse sectors spanning FMCG, telecom, and fashion, having worked with organisations like Pepsico, Motorola, and Arvind Fashions, which was his previous stint as chief revenue officer.

    Having worked with ENIL earlier for 11 years as chief operating officer, he brings with him a rich experience and a strong understanding of the radio, media & entertainment industry.

    Commenting on Mehrishi’s appointment, BCCL managing director Vineet Jain said, “Over the past 20 years, Mirchi has evolved into a multi-platform, multi-format brand that has a presence across FM, live, and digital realms. In line with Mirchi’s new transformational journey, I am confident that Yatish’s return to ENIL will help accelerate our journey of being a digital-first brand.”

    Commenting on his new role, Mehrishi said, “I am super excited to be back with ENIL. For years, Mirchi has been the consumers’ go-to for music and entertainment, dominating the audio industry, and now, with its new app, Mirchi Plus, it is set to redefine the audio entertainment industry further. With the recent shift in consumer behaviour towards digital, I am looking forward to championing Mirchi’s digital journey and replicating our radio journey’s success.”

  • Ipsos appoints new APAC CEO and chief client officer

    Ipsos appoints new APAC CEO and chief client officer

    Mumbai: Ipsos, one of the world’s largest research companies, has announced the appointment of long-time Ipsos global executive Hamish Munro as its new APAC CEO, and current South-East Asia CEO, Suresh Ramalingam, as its new chief client officer for the APAC region. Both appointments are effective immediately.

    Munro moves into his new remit after three years as Ipsos’ global head of interactive services. Since joining the company in 2013, Munro has also had stints as CEO of Australia and New Zealand (2013– 2015), CEO of South-East Asia (2016 – 2017) and CEO of APAC operations (2017 – 2019).

    Having worked and lived across Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Munro is set to bring broad international operational and research management experience to his new role, along with more than two decades of diverse market research and leadership.

    Munro will replace current Ipsos APEC CEO, Christophe Cambournac, who will move into a global role with the business.

    Ramalingam moves into his new role after four years as CEO for Ipsos’ South-East Asian markets. Prior to joining Ipsos, Ramalingam spent more than 20 years at Nielsen, working across its emerging markets in various leadership roles and the most recent one as managing director of consumer insights across LATAM, EMEA and South-East Asia, based in Dubai.

    In his new remit, Ramalingam will lead the client organization for Ipsos’ APAC region and will be based in Kuala Lumpur.

    Ipsos CEO Ben Page said Munro and Ramalingam were set to bring a wealth of industry experience and corporate knowledge to their new roles.

    “Munro has been an integral part of the global Ipsos team since 2013, sharing his 25-plus years’ experience in market research, marketing, communications and account management roles,” Page said.

    “Munro is an exceptional leader, with proven experience in managing large teams and complex businesses in competitive markets. He is well-known in the industry and across the business for his collaborative and decisive management style, with a focus on professional development. Munro is also committed to building and maintaining strong relationships with clients and will be an asset to our broad client base across the APEC region,” he added.

    “Ramalingam has already shown his ability to grow and manage client relationships across South-East Asia, delivering on our long-term growth plans for the region. In his new role, I’m confident that his client and people focused leadership style coupled with his extensive research and management experience will help in leading the client organization successfully in our APAC region.”

    Commenting on his new role, Munro said, “I am excited to collaborate with my colleagues across Asia Pacific and continue to build on our strong client partnerships, building and strengthening our talent and deploying many of our new services to help our clients grow.”

    Ramalingam said, “As the home of researchers, we have an amazing suite of research solutions and services led by experienced teams. Our strong client organization teams help drive engagement with our key clients in Asia Pacific collaborating across our services to provide the best possible research outcomes catering to their business needs. I am very excited to continue to focus on building client relationships across Asia Pacific.”

  • Titan Company ventures into the handbag category with IRTH

    Titan Company ventures into the handbag category with IRTH

    Mumbai: Titan Company, one of the leaders in consumer categories, has announced the launch of its latest handbag brand, IRTH. IRTH from the House of Titan is a thoughtfully designed women’s handbag brand. Every woman carries a bag and owns multiple.

    However, to this huge potential market, the existing solutions today are largely catering to the vanity. Hence, Titan sees potential in organised styling as a space that is unoccupied by anyone. Also given the large loyal base of women consumers that Titan caters to, this is yet another endeavour to enhance her every day.

    These bags are thoughtfully designed with deeper understanding for women of today to elevate their everyday, delivering premium quality at an affordable price. IRTH, the next big venture from Titan, addresses its consumers’ evolving ambitions by presenting a trusted, women’s bag brand that responds to all their requirements.

    Commenting on the launch, Titan Company Ltd managing director CK Venkataraman said, “Titan has continuously pushed the boundaries to offer elevating experiences with our products. We saw a huge potential in the women’s bags category and are delighted to explore the opportunity with the launch of IRTH. The brand IRTH represents the values and trust of Titan and our understanding of the women consumer and their evolving needs. We are proud to present a brand that is centred on design and functionality.”

    Sharing his thoughts on the launch, Titan Company Ltd CEO & vice president -fragrance and fashion accessories division Manish Gupta said, “IRTH intends to create long meaningful relationships with its consumers, making their purchase process exciting and special. Suggestive of the brand’s name, IRTH symbolises the care and attention applied to the product design and exemplifies the sense of wonder and emotion inherent in the brand.”

    IRTH has a product portfolio ranging from workbags, tall totes, shoulder bags, handhelds, slings, cross body, clutches and wallets. Delights and organisers are the categories unique to IRTH. Delights is a range of special bags. Many specific need based bags today are carrying solutions but are not the most stylish. The Delights range is an evolving cluster starting with Mom Bags. Mom bags come with insulated milk bottle slots, changing mats, water repellent slots for soiled clothes, and can be hands free with detachable straps to be hooked on to the stroller. There are many more little pockets to organise the little things of both mom and the baby.

    Detachable organisers cluster is here to make mobility styling organised. The launch pack comes in four different sizes, S, M, L and XL, based on the carrying needs. The delight in IRTH bags are the little features: padded shoulders, key holders, wire organisers, detachable sanitiser pouch, detachable pouches etc. to keep your secret things secret and precious things safe.

    These packed IRTH bags are priced economically to suit every pocket, Rs2595 – Rs 5995.The launch pack of IRTH has a wide choice of 90 bags + 4 organisers in two colour ways to choose from. IRTH bags come with a 9 months warranty policy against manufacturing defects.

  • ‘Weekend Unwind’ with: Vajra Global Consulting Services CEO Ganapathy Sankarabaaham

    ‘Weekend Unwind’ with: Vajra Global Consulting Services CEO Ganapathy Sankarabaaham

    Mumbai: With another weekend upon us, it is time to unwind with the latest Q&A edition of Indiantelevision.com’s Weekend Unwind — a series of informal chats that peek into the minds of corporate executives through a fun lens in an attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better.

    In this week’s session we have digital marketing company Vajra Global Consulting Services CEO Ganapathy Sankarabaaham opening up the windows to his thoughts.

    As CEO of an award-winning digital marketing agency, his vision is simple: to create a unique digital-led marketing strategy to help clients’ businesses grow profitably, meet their goals, and win in the market.

    Ganapathy’s strengths include the ability to quickly understand a business and its goals, to draw up a big-picture growth strategy, and a digital-led execution approach.

    At his firm, he has a robust programme management framework that easily captures business objectives and maps them to measurable outcomes.

    He takes pride in visualising, creating and delivering digital transformation and marketing programmes successfully for both B2B and B2C clients.

    Vajra Global, we specialise in working with technology, e-commerce, healthcare, and event companies. A collaborative, customer-first principle guided by ethics, transparency, and respect for every human being sums up Vajra’s motto.

    So without further ado, here it goes…

         Your mantra for life

     Dream big. Never give up!

        A book you are currently reading/plan to read

    “Visionary thinking” by Ashish Jaiswal.

        Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic

     Stay strong, stay positive. This too shall pass.

        Your comfort food

     Rasam rice.

        When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going

    When the going gets tough, the tough gets going! (or) when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

        Your guilty pleasure

     Ice cream.

        When was the last time you tried something new?

    Today.

        A life lesson you learnt the hard way

    It’s in the details.

         What gets you excited about life?

     Challenges, ideas, discovery, people, and growth.

        What’s on top of your bucket list?

     A trip to Norway.

         If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

    Enjoy the journey!

         One thing you would most like to change about the world

    Supercharge positivity, self-belief and compassion.

        An activity that keeps you motivated/charged during tough times

    Running.

        What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?

    Right intentions and efforts always deliver the right results in time.

        Your go-to stress buster

    Sleep.

  • lDBF 2022: Content marketing to become an extremely powerful tool for brands in future

    lDBF 2022: Content marketing to become an extremely powerful tool for brands in future

    Mumbai: The second edition of the Indian Digital Brand Fest (IDBF) 2022, which took place on 12 October at ITC Maratha, Mumbai, ran an intriguing panel discussion on the topic “Content Marketing for Web 3.0,” which brought together minds and thoughts on how content marketing is going to be the next big thing and how essential it is going to become to understand the consumer.

    The session was chaired by Indiantelevision.com Group founder, CEO & editor in chief, Anil NM Wanvari.

    Beginning the session and putting things into perspective with the topic of web 2.0, TV9 Network managing editor R Sridharan said, “If you look at the innovation that has happened in web 2.0 is far greater than what we saw much before. Earlier it was static content, then in web 2.0 we saw that it allowed people to interact with content like becoming a publisher on Twitter, Facebook. It became richer in many ways. In that way web 2.0 has done an incredible job in making content an integral part of marketing for every chief marketing officer (CMO).

    “More than advertising, content marketing is important, and for that web 2.0 has done a great job. Web 2.0 has been a great learning experience from a content marketing perspective,” he added.

    However, Madison India vice president Kosal Malladi was of the view, “We have done a job in content marketing, but have we done a good job? I’m not so sure. When content marketing started, we thought that the end consumer wanted to know everything, so initially the content marketing was quite bad. We are getting better; it’s an ongoing learning process.”

    “We got to understand that if there’s too much content and information being bombarded on the consumer, then that’s also a problem,” pointed out HDFC ERGO General Insurance vice president marketing Alok Bhargava.

    Talking about the onset of web 3.0, Sridharan brought out, “No one knows how it’s going to pan out, but some things are very apparent and obvious. Firstly, on the content side, it is going to become far more immersive, and secondly, it’s about privacy. These things are going to change the game, and brands have to understand how to know their customers and how to interact with them.”

    He reiterated, “Content marketing is going to become more important in web 3.0 because, as a brand, I need to build communities and platforms where people will come on their own and share information about themselves.”

    “It is about creating the right content in the first place – if you have created some content which is not engaging the consumer and the consumer is not enthusiastic about it, then you have to have a harder look at what you’ve created. Researching the customer and what would keep them engaged is probably the most important thing,” Sridharan pressed.

    Needless to say, content will become extremely powerful if it is done the right way. He said, “If the customer sees value in interacting with you, he/she will come back to you again and again. You won’t have to persuade them.”

    Bhargava opined, “Content creates a good factor for any brand. If your content is not good, you will have to push it harder to the consumer.”

    According to Malladi, most of the content marketing is paid. Sridharan was quick to add, “When a piece of content is dishonest to the consumer, it’s not going to work. They are able to see through when the brand is not being authentic.”

    Regarding whether digital will overtake TV in outreach, Malladi said, “If you are advertising on digital, it’s not just the reach that happens but your ad is also seen on multiple devices.”

    “Yes, digital will overtake eventually, with connected TV taking over linear TV family viewing habits in India. The content has to be medium-appropriate,” said Bhargava.

  • IDBF 2022: The MarTech stack roadmap for D2C brands

    IDBF 2022: The MarTech stack roadmap for D2C brands

    Mumbai: The first panel discussion for the second edition of the Indian Digital Brand Fest 2022, held on 12 October at ITC Maratha in Mumbai, provided an in-depth look at how D2C brands are utilising the MarTech space to attract and retain customers, assisting in not only the sale of brands but also in experience with regard to pre-purchase and post-purchase, and for several other purposes such as warehousing and operations, and even putting out inventory on the website. It also brought out the role of agencies in helping D2C brands achieve all this.

    The discussion was on the topic of “The MarTech stack roadmap for D2C brands,” and was chaired by Wavemaker India’s head of audience sciences, Ronak Parikh.

    Zouk founder & CEO Disha Singh emphasised that as compared to the earlier days when the brand was dependent heavily on their tier I and metro target audience as they were the only ones who had the opportunity to access the brand online, now the brand also has customers across the tier II and tier III cities who have become comfortable adapting to buying D2C brands online, which has helped scale their business further.

    “Most D2C brands were focused on tier I cities because they had more opportunities to shop online. We used to focus more on tier one and metro cities, but thanks to Jio and the internet boom, tier II and tier II cities are also becoming potential markets, and now the split is equal across. This is about consumers’ lifestyle changes; being online and adopting the lifestyle process; and also being ready to experiment with the new brands. This has fueled the D2C base,” she said.

    Singh also revealed, “What has worked for us is providing the consumer with the right product with the right experience. The era of only providing a good product has gone. The consumer not only expects a good product from you at the right price point, but also to experience it pre-purchase and post-purchase. So be it a D2C brand or any brand which wants to grow in today’s times in India, it needs to provide an overall experience to the consumer which begins from when the consumer gets to know about your brand to when the consumer has bought from you.”

    Talking about the role of various MarTech tools that could be utilised, Havas Media group head of digital services India, Rohan Chincholi, brought out that when it comes to a D2C platform, it’s important to make the navigation and checkout process seamless. Hence, tools definitely play a vital role.

    “When you go to a marketplace, you go there for multiple reasons, but when you come to a D2C brand, you are coming with a very clear purpose. It’s not only about sales, it’s also about providing educational or informative content, making navigation and checkout very seamless. It’s very difficult for D2C brands as they do not cater to large audiences or on a large scale, but the money invested is high,” he pointed out.

    Essence vice president of media activation India, Rahul Marwaha, mentioned clearly that MarTech helps agencies and D2C brands to relook at an audience in a different way.

    Speaking of bringing agencies on board, Candere head of marketing & branding Akshay Matkar said that the agencies are experts on the audience while an in-house team is required as product marketers—both need to work on collaboration as per use cases for optimal results.

    “Our category, the jewellery category, was the last adopter of the digital space. During covid, it was not just the consumer behaviour but also the business behaviour of other brands coming online that led us to expand digitally. Tier I and metros were already there; tier II and tier III also started searching and transacting online, and the penetration is still there. Hence, we and our competitors are expanding and focusing more on tier II and tier III cities,” he added.

  • Q Marathi announces its new show ‘Q Marathi YouthFull Mahakarandak’

    Q Marathi announces its new show ‘Q Marathi YouthFull Mahakarandak’

    Mumbai : QYOU Media India’s channel Q Marathi has announced first-of-its-kind non-fiction programming initiative Q Marathi YouthFull Mahakarandak.

    Mumbai: The maiden non-fiction offering will showcase more than 25 handpicked One Act Plays popularly known as Ekankika. Q Marathi YouthFull Mahakarandak will premiere on 7 October and air daily at 7:30 p.m.

    The show is presented by Veet and co-presented by Lizol and Garnier along with the short-format app Chingari as a digital partner.

    In Maharashtra, theatre is a popular storytelling format, and this post-pandemic initiative is designed to encourage and provide a platform for emerging talent to present entertaining, relevant, and thought-provoking plays.

    Q Marathi conducted city-wise judging and screening of the semi-final rounds across key cities of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, and Aurangabad to bring the best of the plays and received a tremendous response of over 70+ entries across young theatre groups of multiple colleges and independent theatre groups. The handpicked plays will be judged by eminent marathi veteran actor Dr Girish Oak; Director, Writer, and Actor Chandrakant Kulkarni and renowned Marathi actress Aditi Sarangdhar, allowing the youth of Maharashtra to present their stories.

    Q Marathi will present awards in categories such as Best Ekankika, Best Actor Female and Male, Best Writer, Director, Light, Set Design, and Music to promote these Ekankikas and encourage young talent.

    Furthermore, to increase viewer engagement, the channel has launched ‘watch & vote,’ which will award one of the finalist’s plays as the ‘viewers’ choice winner.’

    Speaking on the launch of ‘Q Marathi YouthFull Mahakarandak’, QYOU Media India’s CEO Simran Hoon said, “At Q Marathi, we have always innovated to launch new and meaningful ways of entertaining and engaging our viewers. Theatre takes one back to their culture and the Marathi theatre industry is rich in culture and storytelling. Through our first non-fiction show, Q Marathi YouthFull Mahakarandak, we aim to empower the real storytellers and the youth creators of Maharashtra by creating a platform that sets benchmarks and captures the ethos and love for dramatics at its best. We are very happy to have already earned Veet as the presenting partner on this initiative along with Lizol and Garnier as co-presenting partners. True to our unique approach to engaging brands, this show will offer an integrated solution for advertisers to target youth on multiple platforms, be it television, digital, radio, on-ground, and curated branded content to leverage the power of upcoming digital creators in the Marathi space.”

    Q Marathi business head Neeta Thakare, said, “At Q Marathi, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to connect with our audiences across interesting and engaging initiatives. The launch of Q Marathi’s first non-fiction show, Q Marathi YouthFull Mahakarandak provides an opportunity and platform to the young creator economy, making it a notable value-driven property. Staying true to our core DNA, we are delighted to rope in Chingari as our digital partner for this show, as we look forward to leveraging the might of digital creators to further amplify and promote this initiative to take it to a wider base of youth audiences. With this launch, we are hopeful to create new benchmarks in entertaining and engaging our existing viewers as well as captivating new audiences.”

  • India TV’s Group CEO Vinay Maheshwari moves on to explore new professional avenues

    India TV’s Group CEO Vinay Maheshwari moves on to explore new professional avenues

    Mumbai: India TV group CEO Vinay Maheshwari has decided to move on from the news network, according to a company statement. A champion of impact-driven leadership, he believes that the key to growth is to build a formidable team that will drive business and push towards success. During his six-month short-term tenure, Maheshwari has spearheaded the organisation to expand its business, achieve growth and drive profits.

    Vinay who had joined India TV in March 2022, will now move on to explore other professional avenues.

    India TV’s managing director Ritu Dhawan said, “India TV thanks Vinay for the passion and commitment he brought to the company. We appreciate his immense contribution in such a short time. We wish him the best in all his future endeavours.”

    Vinay Maheshwari said, “It was great working with India TV group though for a short tenure. Working with Rajatji and Rituji was a wonderful experience. Enjoyed every bit of it. I wish India TV all the success.”

    He is also an advisor to family-led businesses and helps many organisations to turn around their business. He is skilled in incubating ideas, coaching and innovating.

    Prior to this, he was also associated with Dainik Bhaskar Group and Hindustan Times in leadership positions.

  • 9X Media’s Bhupendra Makhi starts his new innings as CEO

    9X Media’s Bhupendra Makhi starts his new innings as CEO

    Mumbai: The largest music broadcaster, 9X Media has elevated Bhupendra Makhi to the position of chief executive officer (CEO). The new role allows him to spearhead strategic business developments for the company. His vivid experience will facilitate strengthening the company’s objectives and focus on areas to build business for the long term. Having a proven track record of producing excellent results, he will focus to embark on a new journey and take 9X Media to a higher level of growth by engaging audiences through its disruptive content.

    Bhupendra brings extensive knowledge of the financial sector as well as an impressive track record in the media & entertainment industry.

    During his long tenure with 9X, Bhupendra was also the company’s chief financial officer (CFO), having risen through the ranks from vice-president of finance. He has been with the company since 2007.

    Commenting on his elevation as CEO, Bhupendra Makhi said, “I am grateful to our investors and the board for entrusting me with this role. 9X Media has reached an important stage, having met significant milestones, and achieving positive performance. We remain highly encouraged and I look forward to continuing to work closely with all the teams for the benefit of the company and creating value for our stakeholders.”