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Tag: Rakesh Thukral

  • Edelman reveals two dynamos to lead India and Asia-Pacific

    Edelman reveals two dynamos to lead India and Asia-Pacific

    MUMBAI: Edelman has catapulted two internal powerhouses, Bhavna Jagtiani and Kunal Arora, into pivotal leadership roles across India and Asia-Pacific, signalling a bold strategic evolution for the global communications firm.

    Jagtiani ascends from chief operating officer to chief executive of Edelman India, crowning a 22-year journey that began as an account executive. Her promotion reflects a meteoric rise through the corporate ranks, now tasked with steering business strategy and deepening client relationships.

    Arora, previously managing director for India digital, now commands the digital landscape across the Asia-Pacific region. With a decade of digital crisis management and reputation expertise, he’s set to scale the firm’s digital operations and embed innovative solutions across client portfolios.

    Edelman APAC chief, Rakesh Thukral praised the appointments: “Bhavna is an undisputed culture champion” who has driven “consistent growth”, while Kunal has “integrated the best capabilities and innovation.”

    Both executives will continue reporting to Thukral, with the appointments taking immediate effect.

  • Vinod Moorthy joins Rediffusion/Edelman as director

    Vinod Moorthy joins Rediffusion/Edelman as director

    MUMBAI Edelman India announced the appointment of Vinod Moorthy as director of Rediffusion/Edelman, effective immediately. Moorthy takes over from Jimmy Mogal who moves into a senior advisory role at Edelman India. Based in Mumbai, Moorthy will take charge of the Tata business reporting to Edelman India, MD Rakesh Thukral.

    “With Vinod’s appointment, we are further strengthening our leadership team at Rediffusion/Edelman,” said Thukral. “Vinod brings years of knowledge and experience in driving corporate reputation campaigns for major companies which will further elevate our offerings. Jimmy has played a key role over the last year in spearheading the team and will continue to play a strategic role at Edelman India.”

    Rediffusion Y&R MD and chairman Diwan Arun Anand said, “We welcome Vinod’s addition to the team handling our Tata mandate. I am confident that with his multifaceted experience he will add substantial value to our offering to the client.”

    Moorthy joins Rediffusion/Edelman from H+K Strategies where he was the North India senior vice president and APAC Corporate practice lead. Prior to this, he served at Ketchum Sampark, Good Relations India Limited (GRI) and a stint heading GCI, the PR Division of Grey Worldwide as its general manager.

  • Edelman India elevates Rakesh Thukral as managing director

    Edelman India elevates Rakesh Thukral as managing director

    MUMBAI: To lead the firm’s second largest market in the firm’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APACMEA) region, Edelman India has got on-board Rakesh Thukral as the managing director with immediate effect.

    Overseeing 400 people across 11 cities in India, Thukral will work with the Edelman leadership team to build on the success and continued strong growth that the firm has experienced in recent years. He will report to South Asia, Middle East & Africa (SAMEA) CEO Robert Holdheim. 

     

    “Rakesh is well-positioned to drive Edelman India into its next phase of business growth,” said Holdheim. “He is a talented, seasoned leader and has a strong team to support him. It gives me tremendous pleasure to hand over the baton to Rakesh, at a time when we are at the cusp of exploring a dynamic new world of communications. I am confident that under Rakesh’s leadership, we will scale new heights and achieve new milestones for our teams, our clients and our business.”

     

    An industry veteran with over 23 years of experience in communications and public affairs, Thukral joined Edelman India in 2010 to set up the firm’s Public Affairs and Advocacy Practice. In 2012, he took on the additional role of chief operating officer (COO). During his four-plus years at Edelman, he successfully built the public affairs practice to one of the largest in the country. He was a core member of the leadership team responsible for growing the business, developing new offerings and thereby expanding the firm’s presence to 11 cities.

     

    “Being part of Edelman India’s leadership team has been a very enriching experience and I am humbled by the trust that the team has placed in me as I take over this new role,” said Thukral. “In the last few years, Edelman has established a remarkable footprint in India and created a new benchmark in the PR consulting business. I look forward to working with our leadership team to leverage the scale, expertise and the new thinking to drive success for our clients and our business.”

     

    Prior to joining Edelman, he was the COO of Comma Consulting for over four years, a company that he helped set up. He also worked at IPAN, now known as IPAN Hill+Knowlton, for 14 years.

     

  • Edelman gets on board Kunal Arora and Deepak Agarwal

    Edelman gets on board Kunal Arora and Deepak Agarwal

    MUMBAI: To further bolster its digital business in India, Edelman has announced two strategic leadership appointments.

     

    It has got on-board Kunal Arora as the national director who will be responsible for the company’s digital business in India, overseeing business planning and development and will lead a team of digital experts across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

     

    He will be based in Gurgaon and report to Edelman Digital APACMEA president Gavin Coombes and Edelman India COO Rakesh Thukral.

     

    Arora comes with over 16 years of experience in the digital advertising business. Before joining Edelman, he was the business lead at Hungama Digital Services for six years.

     

    To further impetus to the company’s digital creative offerings in India, it has also appointed Deepak Agarwal as group creative director, digital. He will be based in Mumbai, heading an all-India digital creative team, reporting to Arora. In his role, he will lead the charge in elevating the digital creative for both content development and digital builds.

     

    Agarwal, in his last role, served as Executive Creative Director, Copy M&C SAATCHI-i – the direct marketing & digital division of M&C SAATCHI.

     

    “The addition of Kunal and Deepak is critical to our plans to broaden our Digital offering in India across creative, strategy and build,” said Thukral. “Kunal’s digital advertising experience and Deepak’s award-winning creative expertise will strengthen our capabilities to deliver truly integrated campaigns to our clients.”

     

    “Kunal and Deepak bring unique and extensive experience in a variety of fields, from advertising to direct marketing to digital to social media, and we look forward to making the most of all of their expertise together with their passion and commitment to excellence as we build the Edelman Digital brand and business across India,” said Coombes.

     

    He further adds: “These two skill leaders will work with the strong talent base we already have on the ground and our over 1,000 digital professionals throughout the world for the benefit of our clients.”

  • Edelman strengthens strategic leadership positions in Mumbai and Delhi

    Edelman strengthens strategic leadership positions in Mumbai and Delhi

    MUMBAI: Edelman today announced two additions to its leadership team in India. Further boosting the firm as it forges ahead on a high growth trajectory, Edelman welcomes back veteran Bhavna Jagtiani, as Director – West. Bonny Lawrie joins from Edelman Middle East, in the newly created role, Deputy General Manager of the Delhi NCR office.

    An experienced brand marketer, Bhavna returns to Edelman India after two years in the Edelman Hong Kong office, where she co-led the consumer practice. Bhavna will now be responsible for managing and growing the Edelman business in West India, including the offices in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.  She will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Rakesh Thukral, Chief Operating Officer, Edelman India.

    Bonny will lead some of Edelman India’s largest clients, most notably Microsoft and Shell. She brings with her more than 11 years of experience in communications and marketing across Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and most recently, the Middle East.  She will be based out of New Delhi and will report to Varghese Cherian, General Manager North & East, Edelman India and Technology Lead – SAMEA.

    Rakesh Thukral, Chief Operating Officer, Edelman India, says, “These strategic additions to our team will further strengthen our leadership in India and help drive business growth. With their multi-market experience, Bhavna and Bonny are well-positioned to ensure success in our client work, learning for our teams and growth for Edelman. Bhavna’s return to Edelman India will provide further impetus to our West operations; and Bonny’s experience will contribute to further expansion of our fastest growing office in India.”

    Bhavna’s career at Edelman has spanned a period of over ten years, working for the world’s biggest and most admired brands. During her earlier stint in India, she co-led the Edelman Consumer Practice in the country, driving corporate and brand communications programmes for a wide range of clients. Bhavna graduated from the University of Mumbai with a degree in commerce. She also has a post graduate diploma from the Xavier’s Institute of Communications, Mumbai.

    Bonny has managed a number of high profile clients across the Middle East and North Africa. For the past year, she has led Edelman’s operations in Qatar.  Bonny is also a member of Edelman’s South Asia, Middle East and Africa leadership team. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communication) degree from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia.