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Tag: MD

  • Sajeev Rajasekharan joins Harley Davidson India as MD

    Sajeev Rajasekharan joins Harley Davidson India as MD

    MUMBAI: Sajeev Rajasekharan, former EVP of Suzuki Motorcycle India, has joined Harley Davidson India as the managing director.

    In his new role, he will be driving Harley Davidson's recently announced plans to launch mid-size motorcycles in the 250-500 cc range in India.

    Rajasekharan joined Suzuki as executive vice president for sales and after-sales in July 2016.

    Rajasekharan has over two decades of experience in marketing, sales and operations having worked with Panasonic India as the deputy divisional managing director, Electrolux India and Samsung India.

    In July, Harley Davidson announced its plans to launch a mid-size motorcycle in the 250-500 cc range for emerging markets with a focus in India and to challenge Royal Enfield’s leadership position.

  • Mercedes-Benz India appoints Martin Schwenk as new MD and CEO

    Mercedes-Benz India appoints Martin Schwenk as new MD and CEO

    MUMBAI: Mercedes- Benz has appointed Martin Schwenk as the new managing director and chief executive officer for Mercedes-Benz India. Schwenk, who is currently the chief financial officer of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co Ltd in China, will take over from Roland Folger from 1 November. Folger will be taking over the role of managing director, sales and marketing, Thailand and Vietnam, and will also be the CEO of Mercedes-Benz Thailand.

    On his appointment, Schwenk said, “Having worked across in different countries and functions, I am extremely excited for my forthcoming responsibility to head the dynamic India market. India’s rich cultural diversity, the young population, the diverse customs, different languages and topography together with its importance as a future economic powerhouse; makes it a compelling market to grow the business. It is a privileged opportunity for me to head the business of the most iconic and successful luxury motoring brand, in one of the most vibrant markets in the region. With my experience across various business divisions, I am looking forward to pursuing the ‘Indian story’ further and make the foundation of Mercedes-Benz even stronger in India. We have a fantastic winning team comprising our people and investors with proven records, and I am eager to be part of this winning team,” as quoted by Financial Express.

    The new MD has been working with this company for more than 12 years. Schwenk joined Mercedes- Benz in April 2006 as the head of finance and controlling East London Plant. Schwenk began his career at Daimler in 1992, through the Mercedes-Benz Trainee Programme, has an engineering degree from the University of Stuttgart. 

    Also Read:

    Mercedes-Benz India to excite with fascinating festive campaigns

    Mercedes Benz S-Class arrives through airport OOH ads

  • Perfetti Van Melle India appoints Rajesh Ramakrishnan as MD

    Perfetti Van Melle India appoints Rajesh Ramakrishnan as MD

    MUMBAI: Leading confectionery player Pertfetti Van Melle India has recently appointed Rajesh Ramakrishnan as the new MD of the company. Ramakrishnan will replace Ramesh Jayaraman who has moved to another role within the group.

    In his new role he will be responsible for the operations of the company for India and Nepal.

    Ramakrishnan joined Perfetti Van Melle in 2014 as a managing director for Bangladesh. Under his leadership, Perfetti Van Melle, Bangladesh delivered sustained growth and achieved market leadership in 2016. In August 2017, Rajesh moved to India as the chief transformation officer. As the CTO, he worked with the business teams in strategising and delivering the key elements of the business transformation project to drive topline and bottomline growth.

    Perfetti Van Melle president Huub Sanders said, “Rajesh is an accomplished leader, who brings in a good mix of strategic thinking and operational excellence, with strong leadership skills. We are delighted to have him as our India head and wish him all the very best in his new role.”

    Ramakrishnan brings with him 24 years of experience in diverse fields like sales, marketing and general management in Asia across the categories such has personal care, household care, foods and beverages, confectionery and media. Rajesh is a graduate of XLRI Jamshedpur and BITS Pilani.

    Prior to joining Perfetti Van Melle, Ramakrishnan was the marketing head at HT Media Ltd. In India, he has also worked in various sales and marketing roles for Pepsico, Marico Industries and Reckitt Benckiser.

    Rajesh is an award winning photographer. His work has been featured at Cannes and has also been published in several publications in India and outside.

  • L’Oreal India appoints Amit Jain as managing director

    L’Oreal India appoints Amit Jain as managing director

    MUMBAI: L’Oreal India has appointed Amit Jain as a new India managing director succeeding Jean Christophe Letellier who will shift within L’Oréal group after a five-year stint in the country.

    L’Oreal is one of the largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field of hair colour, skin care, sun protection and many others.

    Jain will join the company from August this year and will be the first Indian MD after the French cosmetics giant entered in 1991.

    L’Oreal South Asia Pacific Zone vice president Pierre-Yves Arzel said, “We believe that Amit’s rich global experience with a deep understanding of India, transformational leadership skills and inclusive personality will be an important asset in further developing L’Oréal’s business in India. His mission is to build on our rich talent base and global brands, to make L’Oréal India an engine for growth in Asia,”

    Prior to this, Jain was the managing director of North-West Europe for Akzo Nobel, based in Amsterdam. Jain has also worked in companies including Coca- Cola and Viacom.

    Under Jean-Christophe Letellier’s leadership, India saw significant sales growth, revolutionised digital and e-commerce platforms, and achieved ambitious targets in skill development and environmental sustainability.

    The company, which is almost synonymous with Bollywood actress and its brand ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in India, face competition from global rivals Unilever and Procter and Gamble

  • ZEEL appoints Shariq Patel as CEO of Essel Vision Productions

    ZEEL appoints Shariq Patel as CEO of Essel Vision Productions

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), one of India’s leading media and entertainment companies, has appointed Shariq Patel as the chief executive officer of Essel Vision Productions Ltd. Patel will report to ZEEL MD & CEO  Punit Goenka.

    Along with its other leading businesses, film and television content production have been fundamental business verticals for the media conglomerate, both having immense growth potential.

    Essel Vision Productions produces soap operas, reality TV, comedy, game shows, entertainment and factual programming in several Indian languages. 

    Patel has more than 20 years of experience across various industries spanning financial services, radio, internet, telecom, sports management and films. He has earlier worked with Radio One 94.3 FM as Vice President, Marketing & Station Head, post which he had a short stint with Essel Sports as Senior Vice President, Marketing & Operations – Indian Cricket League. He then moved to Viacom 18 Media as Executive Vice President, (STUDIO18) Production before starting out with his own venture Trigno Media Pvt Ltd. His appointment further enhances ZEEL’s approach in strengthening its films and television content production arms.

    Also Read:

    Zeel numbers up on higher ad revenue in third quarter

    ZEEL CEO Punit Misra says: “We intend to compete fairly”

    ZEEL elevates Atul Das as president – affiliate rev & dist

  • CASBAA Convention kicks off with focus on deals, revenue and content

    CASBAA Convention kicks off with focus on deals, revenue and content

    Macau: The CASBAA Convention annual conference got underway today at its exciting new venue, Studio City, Macau. This year marks the 25thanniversary of CASBAA which is dedicated to representing key players from the cable and satellite broadcasting industry under the motto ‘represent, inform, connect’. Today’s sessions looked at the deals being made in the industry today, as well as the tools to aggregate and measure audiences. As ever, content was hotly discussed, with a focus on how content is evolving in the digital age.

    Following opening remarks by Sompan Charumilinda, Chairman for CASBAA, Irwin Gotlieb, the Global Chairman for GroupM, was first to take to that stage to discuss the changing nature, and measurement of viewing behaviors. He also touched upon how the way to reach audiences via the marketing funnel is the same but a granularity of data can now inform decisions for each stage of the funnel. He underscored how media will continue to play a role becoming more targetable, addressable and eventually part of the transaction process. Also on the subject of measurement, Ben Reneker of S&P Global Market Intelligence highlighted how machine-driven predictive measurement models are now able to inform strategic decisions on marketing and investment.

    Oliver Wilkinson, managing director for PricewaterhouseCoopers, provided statistics to illustrate that pay-TV is not dead, despite what the headlines say, and that it remains a primary form of entertainment. Yet, with digital players increasingly on their turf, content and channel providers should look to diverse and digitalize their offer. Doing deals in China was the topic for Bennett Pozil, EVP of East West Bank, who discussed the migration of content both ways as well as some of the pros and cons of doing business in China. Vivek Couto, Executive Director at Media Partners Asia, flagged the rise of digital players with the forecast that pay-TV growth would slow to about 3% as content providers looking to establish more direct to consumer offerings.

    Reaching a vast audience through tailored video and gaming content was the topic for Chad Gutstein, CEO of Machinima who highlighted that their most valued content was when viewers felt they had a connection to the creation of it. On a video note, Ricky Ow from Turner International predicted that Machinima’s e-Sports will be as successful as the English Premier League.

    James Schwab, Co-President of VICE announced the opening of the company’s first full-service office in Asia, in Jakarta, Indonesia. He discussed how their local content policy over digital channels has helped the company grow exponentially over the last few years. The recent move into TV has been important for VICE as it gives them the ability to invest more in content.

    Localized and Asian content was flagged by Henry Tan, COO of Astro, for being one of the main drivers that has seen the provider defy the trend of decline in time spent on TV, reporting healthy growth in this respect. A true understanding of the complexities of the Malaysia audience demographic is key to content that works for Astro’s market. Tan also discussed the effectiveness of current measurement models with Nick Burfitt, MD, APAC, Kantar Media. On the global stage, compelling content that tells a great story is the wining formula for Thom Beers of BoBCat whose male-oriented programmes like “Deadliest Catch” and “Monster Garage” have achieved success the world over. Norman Lao, VP International of Leyard showcased how MR – mixed reality comprising a kind of virtual reality that reacts with real physical events – will shape the content of the future.

    Piracy cropped up in conversation throughout the day with opinions polarized on whether this would continue to be an issue. In a session devoted to the subject, Avigail Gutman, Programme Director, Operational Security, CISCO, advised that the industry needed to ‘follow the money’ in combating piracy. Lucia Rangel, VP Latin America, Asia Pacific & Worldwide Game Strategy and Operations Warner Bros. agreed the problem was worldwide and that ISD boxes formed a critical part of the problem as many consumers were not even aware of the illegality of these and other streaming mechanics. A global effort was needed to fight the pirates, she commented. Desmond Chan, Deputy GM, Legal and International Operations, TVB highlighted the tangible impact piracy had already made to their business. Nickhil Jakatdar of Vuclip talked about how the content provider’s strategy was to provide a better experience than that available from pirate outfits.

    Different models of OTT content streaming were also a hot topic. Jakatdar illustrated how Vuclip’s Viu platform was a direct to consumer offering while David Weiland, EVP Asia, BBC Worldwide discussed how the ‘Beeb’ had instead opted to stream their new OTT app via their operator, Starhub. With all the different streaming options available, it was concluded that consumers could hardly keep up and would want a ‘one-stop’ shop when seeking out their viewing content.

    “Today’s Convention was a hot bed of debate on key issues facing our members today,” said Christopher Slaughter, CEO of CASBAA. “With issues on deals, revenue, appealing content, measurement, piracy and OTT streaming models all on the agenda, we hope our delegates found the sessions useful and informative, and that the information shared will be of help as they shape their business models for the fast-changing landscape in which they operate.”

  • CASBAA Convention kicks off with focus on deals, revenue and content

    CASBAA Convention kicks off with focus on deals, revenue and content

    Macau: The CASBAA Convention annual conference got underway today at its exciting new venue, Studio City, Macau. This year marks the 25thanniversary of CASBAA which is dedicated to representing key players from the cable and satellite broadcasting industry under the motto ‘represent, inform, connect’. Today’s sessions looked at the deals being made in the industry today, as well as the tools to aggregate and measure audiences. As ever, content was hotly discussed, with a focus on how content is evolving in the digital age.

    Following opening remarks by Sompan Charumilinda, Chairman for CASBAA, Irwin Gotlieb, the Global Chairman for GroupM, was first to take to that stage to discuss the changing nature, and measurement of viewing behaviors. He also touched upon how the way to reach audiences via the marketing funnel is the same but a granularity of data can now inform decisions for each stage of the funnel. He underscored how media will continue to play a role becoming more targetable, addressable and eventually part of the transaction process. Also on the subject of measurement, Ben Reneker of S&P Global Market Intelligence highlighted how machine-driven predictive measurement models are now able to inform strategic decisions on marketing and investment.

    Oliver Wilkinson, managing director for PricewaterhouseCoopers, provided statistics to illustrate that pay-TV is not dead, despite what the headlines say, and that it remains a primary form of entertainment. Yet, with digital players increasingly on their turf, content and channel providers should look to diverse and digitalize their offer. Doing deals in China was the topic for Bennett Pozil, EVP of East West Bank, who discussed the migration of content both ways as well as some of the pros and cons of doing business in China. Vivek Couto, Executive Director at Media Partners Asia, flagged the rise of digital players with the forecast that pay-TV growth would slow to about 3% as content providers looking to establish more direct to consumer offerings.

    Reaching a vast audience through tailored video and gaming content was the topic for Chad Gutstein, CEO of Machinima who highlighted that their most valued content was when viewers felt they had a connection to the creation of it. On a video note, Ricky Ow from Turner International predicted that Machinima’s e-Sports will be as successful as the English Premier League.

    James Schwab, Co-President of VICE announced the opening of the company’s first full-service office in Asia, in Jakarta, Indonesia. He discussed how their local content policy over digital channels has helped the company grow exponentially over the last few years. The recent move into TV has been important for VICE as it gives them the ability to invest more in content.

    Localized and Asian content was flagged by Henry Tan, COO of Astro, for being one of the main drivers that has seen the provider defy the trend of decline in time spent on TV, reporting healthy growth in this respect. A true understanding of the complexities of the Malaysia audience demographic is key to content that works for Astro’s market. Tan also discussed the effectiveness of current measurement models with Nick Burfitt, MD, APAC, Kantar Media. On the global stage, compelling content that tells a great story is the wining formula for Thom Beers of BoBCat whose male-oriented programmes like “Deadliest Catch” and “Monster Garage” have achieved success the world over. Norman Lao, VP International of Leyard showcased how MR – mixed reality comprising a kind of virtual reality that reacts with real physical events – will shape the content of the future.

    Piracy cropped up in conversation throughout the day with opinions polarized on whether this would continue to be an issue. In a session devoted to the subject, Avigail Gutman, Programme Director, Operational Security, CISCO, advised that the industry needed to ‘follow the money’ in combating piracy. Lucia Rangel, VP Latin America, Asia Pacific & Worldwide Game Strategy and Operations Warner Bros. agreed the problem was worldwide and that ISD boxes formed a critical part of the problem as many consumers were not even aware of the illegality of these and other streaming mechanics. A global effort was needed to fight the pirates, she commented. Desmond Chan, Deputy GM, Legal and International Operations, TVB highlighted the tangible impact piracy had already made to their business. Nickhil Jakatdar of Vuclip talked about how the content provider’s strategy was to provide a better experience than that available from pirate outfits.

    Different models of OTT content streaming were also a hot topic. Jakatdar illustrated how Vuclip’s Viu platform was a direct to consumer offering while David Weiland, EVP Asia, BBC Worldwide discussed how the ‘Beeb’ had instead opted to stream their new OTT app via their operator, Starhub. With all the different streaming options available, it was concluded that consumers could hardly keep up and would want a ‘one-stop’ shop when seeking out their viewing content.

    “Today’s Convention was a hot bed of debate on key issues facing our members today,” said Christopher Slaughter, CEO of CASBAA. “With issues on deals, revenue, appealing content, measurement, piracy and OTT streaming models all on the agenda, we hope our delegates found the sessions useful and informative, and that the information shared will be of help as they shape their business models for the fast-changing landscape in which they operate.”

  • Indian brands eye 25% increase in mobile marketing spends

    Indian brands eye 25% increase in mobile marketing spends

    MUMBAI: In this ever changing and developing world, which is led by technological advancements, brands need to constantly re-examine their strategies and explore the full extent of the tools at their disposal. In a scenario like this, the key to the mobile marketing industry’s success is for brands to take a focused and consumer-centric approach.

     

    What’s more, according to a research called “State of the industry – mobile marketing in India” conducted by WARC in conjunction with Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), around 75 per cent of Indian marketers are looking to raise their mobile marketing spends to 25 per cent from this year from 10 per cent or less from the previous years. What’s more, the number might even hit 50 per cent in the next five years.

     

    According to WARC Asia Pacific MD Edward Pank, the study indicated that Hindustan Unilever was the most innovative mobile brand in the country followed closely by Flipkart, Samsung, Amazon and Paytm while Telecom and Retail ead the way in terms of innovation and location based marketing.

     

    The annual MMA Forum India 2015, which was held in Gurgaon recently, was themed ‘Acquiring, Reaching and Engaging the Right Consumers through Mobile.’ The forum saw speakers from brands, agencies and technology companies, dissecting successful and innovative brand campaigns over the previous year to highlight the importance and effectiveness of mobile within the marketing mix.

     

    “Capability-building and innovation are key to the success of the mobile marketing industry. In light of the rapid evolution of technology, it’s important for brands to take a focused and consumer-centric approach to mobile,” said MMA Asia Pacific managing director Rohit Dadwal.

     

    The MMA Forum India 2015 kicked off with a keynote session by Unilever regional vice president – media Rahul Weld, who discussed Unilever’s innovative approach to marketing and its success in reaching out to the targeted customer through effective strategies.

     

    Talking about the importance of “seizing the moment” when reaching out to the consumer, Google India industry director – e-commerce, retail, online classifieds and technology Nitin Bawankule said, “The most effective way to reach out to the consumer is to target them in time of their need. Every consumer looks for solutions on their mobile devices and strategic advertising are key to catching the consumer at this moment.”

     

    Media specialist and writer Vanita Kohli-Khandekar and Vserv co-founder & CEO Dippak Khurana brought to light the various aspects of mobile commerce, advertising and data that can help shrink the intent-purchase gap. 

     

    Talking about the need to share data to leverage its power to reach, engage and acquire the consumer, Khurana said that publishers with significant “consumer attention” will try to move to commerce and that while consumers in India have regularly demonstrated their appetite to pay through mobile, marketers have been shy of sharing data that could help them buy through mobile platforms, significantly limiting their success.

     

    Madhouse Inc founder & CEO Joshua Maa discussed the similarities and the difference between different Asian markets with a focus on India and China during his session – “No two markets are the same yet they are not different.” He covered aspects and opportunities where India could learn from China and vice versa.

     

    Group M CEO CVL Srinivas moderated a panel discussion with Pepsico India vice president – beverages category Vipul Prakash, ZEEL chief business officer Sunil Buch and OLX India CEO Amarjit Singh Batra, where they shared insights on becoming “mobile capable” and how media owners, brands and agencies can come together to build mobile insight and capability to achieve the desired level of maturity.

     

    Yahoo Asia Pacific senior director marketing Nitin Mathur unveiled the various aspects of Flurry, the mobile-analytics company acquired by Yahoo, and discussed its potential to influence the consumer by tracking their behaviour on apps and building personalised and relevant communication thereby highlighting the need for more such tools in the space.

     

    Opera Mediaworks Asia managing director Vikas Gulati illustrated the effectiveness of mobile devices in connecting brands and consumers by discussing the success of AskMeBazaar.com’s campaign with Askme India group CMO Manav Sethi and Findit Malaysia that was executed by Opera MediaWorks. Gulati discussed at length, the power that mobile empowers brands with, to control consumer behaviour as they are most intimate and used media device.

     

    As part of the MMA forum 2015, Madhouse – South Asia COO Milind Pathak introduced the winners of Madlabs, a platform introduced by Madhouse to showcase the innovative mobile communications and solutions in the startup ecosystem and espoused the effective use of mobile to reach out the targeted consumer.

     

    The MMA Forum was followed by the MMA’s mobile excellence awards program – SMARTIES India 2015 where the winners from 15 categories and five Industry awards were announced.

     

    Over 330 delegates and 34 industry leaders representing the mobile marketing ecosystem in the country came together for the day-long event to discuss and deliberate over the future of the industry.

  • ZEE confirmed as Title Sponsor for 2014 Jaipur Literature Festival

    ZEE confirmed as Title Sponsor for 2014 Jaipur Literature Festival

    MUMBAI: The Jaipur Literature Festival has announced ZEE Entertainment as the new title sponsor for the 2014 Festival, taking place next week between 17 – 21 January 2014. The Festival will now be known as the ‘ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival’.

     

    Launched in 1992, ZEE is one of the largest media organisations in the world, entertaining over 700 million viewers across the globe weekly. Their sponsorship of the Festival furthers their commitment to quality entertainment in Indian languages, at home and abroad.

     

    The Festival, which is now in its seventh edition, will welcome a wealth of world-class literary talent next week, including Jonathan Franzen, Jumpha Lahiri, Amartya Sen, Harold Varmus, Tash Aw, Samantha Shannon and Reza Aslan.

     

    Inspired with this thought, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – (The World is my Family), ZEE has partnered with the Jaipur Literature Festival to extend its commitment to the Arts and culture, by bringing Festival audience and visitors the best literary minds from across India and the world.

     

    Mr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, said, “Literature, as they rightly say, preserves our cultural ideals, customs and morals. ZEE has been the cultural ambassador of our nation to the rest of the world for over two decades. Our traditions and rich culture, weaved into our content, reaches over 700+ million viewers across the globe. Our brand positioning – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, resonates this effort of ours, to unify the diverse cultures and traditions across the world into one Family. Celebrating this legacy further, we are extremely proud to associate with Jaipur Literature Festival.”

     

    Mr. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, commented “ZEE has redefined itself from being a broadcaster to a content company. We at ZEE, believe that one has to constantly innovate and offer creative content solutions to audiences to enhance their engagement. The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival association further strengthens our endeavour in creating compelling and engaging story telling for our viewers.”

     

    Sanjoy K. Roy, Producer of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said: “We are thrilled to welcome ZEE Entertainment as title sponsor to the Jaipur Literature Festival, the world’s largest free literary festival. Their support will allow us to keep the Festival open to all, whilst bringing a wealth of world class talent to Jaipur each year. We look forward to a strong partnership as the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.”

  • Helios Media elevates Bala Iyengar as COO

    Helios Media elevates Bala Iyengar as COO

    MUMBAI: Helios Media, a specialty services company for the broadcast sector, recently completed two years in operations. And with the television industry undergoing critical developments with digitisation, regulations in inventory management, growth of niche genres and evolving dynamics of how viewers consume entertainment, the media brands are exploring newer avenues for engaging with audiences while advertisers are on a constant search for platforms to maximise reach. Traditional practices are being reviewed and the market is in a constant state of innovation.

     “With the changing social fabric, growth of internet penetration and the change in consumer behaviour, the means to reach the viewer have increased manifold. As we move forward, our focus will be on getting into deeper partnerships with relevant platform creators to enhance the solutions we offer our clients. A TV channel is not just for TVCs anymore, and we will work with them in the overall revenue management space, going beyond traditional commercial inventory. In addition to inventory sales, we have enhanced our teams to include talent in the areas of content syndication, custom events, celebrity management and strategic digital initiatives. To take this scale of operations forward, it’s only natural that Bala steps up to take charge of our complete offering and provide seamless service to our clients”, says Helios Media founder & MD Divya Radhakrishnan.

    Commenting further on his elevated role and plans ahead, Helios Media chief operating officer Bala Iyengar added, “The team has been groomed as idea generators and solutions providers who can offer expert advice on how to connect the advertiser with the audience. And this has helped us bring in the 150+ advertisers on MTunes HD, develop a market strategy for Channel X, exponentially increase the revenue base for FoodFood and set to motion the revenue agenda for FTV India. We will shape ourselves to be the go-to destination for advertisers seeking innovative ways to connect with audiences, and for channels seeking breakthrough strategies to boost revenue.”

    The company was launched with a vision to provide broadcasters with business critical expertise in the areas of revenue management, brand consulting and creative development. And has demonstrated results for brands such as MTunes HD, Channel X, FoodFood and Fashion TV.