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Tag: South Asia

  • Mindshare appoints Gopa Menon as digital head, South Asia

    Mindshare appoints Gopa Menon as digital head, South Asia

    Mumbai: GroupM’s flagship agency Mindshare India on Tuesday announced the appointment of Gopa Menon as digital head, South Asia. 

    In this role, Menon will be responsible for managing the agency’s full-service digital offerings and help existing and new clients transform their digital processes, digital marketing strategies, brand building, and ROI-driven marketing outcomes, said the statement.

    He will be based out of Gurgaon and will report to Mindshare South Asia chief operating officer Amin Lakhani, it added.

    “Gopa brings with him in-depth knowledge and diverse digital expertise,” said Lakhani, welcoming Menon on board. “We are confident that Gopa will play a pivotal role as we accompany our clients in elevating business outcomes through our unique addressable media stack.”

    Menon comes with a rich and vast experience of close to 18 years in driving digital transformation for brands across the region.

    “With the digital growth and evolution today, there are a lot of opportunities in store for brands to explore and accordingly revamp their digital tactics,” said Menon on his new role. “I am incredibly thrilled & happy to be part of the Mindshare & the purple family, it’s sort of home coming for me.”

  • Dentsu International appoints Rohit Suri as chief HR officer for South Asia

    Dentsu International appoints Rohit Suri as chief HR officer for South Asia

    Mumbai: Dentsu International has announced the appointment of Rohit Suri to the role of chief HR officer (CHRO), South Asia, effective 15 September 2021. The appointment is key to the dentsu India 2.0 transformation agenda which is designed to unlock higher levels of business performance, innovation, and solution-led strategies for its people and clients, said the agency on Monday.

    Based in Mumbai, Suri will build a high-performance team in India and Sri Lanka, establishing new skills and talent initiatives while shaping a people-oriented, value-led culture. His core focus will be to drive the India 2.0 transformation journey. According to the company, he will accentuate the leadership agenda and talent pipeline, pivotal in futureproofing the long-term competitiveness of the business.

    Suri will report to dentsu Asia Pacific (APAC) CEO and dentsu India, chairman Ashish Bhasin and dentsu APAC, regional HR director, Kinch Ong.

    He carries over 23 years of progressive experience in fast-paced Consumer Internet, Technology, and media companies, and has worked across South Asia, APAC, and Europe. Most recently, he was chief talent officer (CTO) at GroupM South Asia, leading human resources and talent operations in the region.

    Meanwhile, HR Operations Transformation head, South Asia, Sunil Seth will continue to support the business with a tighter focus on HR Operations transformation and the Sri Lanka market, reporting to Rohit, said dentsu in a media statement.

    dentsu APAC CEO and dentsu India chairman Ashish Bhasin said, “This is the beginning of our transformation journey and the dentsu India 2.0 path to success. With Rohit on board, he will be a leading force in our journey in building a new team for South Asia. He will ensure we have a compelling talent acquisition strategy for future talent. This is crucial as the region accelerates in growth and continues on the journey to realising our global ambition of becoming the most integrated network in the world, making us more agile and simpler for our clients to access our world-class capabilities and talents.”

    On his new role Suri said, “This is an exciting time and opportunity to join dentsu and be part of a pioneering team of next-generation leaders. With the pandemic, it is important, now more than ever, that we create real human connections and build a powerful culture. How can we bring incremental value by fostering a team spirit of excellence and togetherness? This is what I plan to achieve, together with my team, in the coming months and I cannot wait to get started.”

    dentsu Asia Pacific regional HR Director, Kinch Ong, said, “Rohit is a pivotal hire for our team, a well-known name in the industry with a solid track record that we are confident will extend to our dentsu HR function through the impact from his integral role in India’s transformation 2.0.”

  • Lowe Lintas elevates Anaheeta Goenka as COO for Unilever, South Asia & CGO

    Lowe Lintas elevates Anaheeta Goenka as COO for Unilever, South Asia & CGO

    Mumbai: Lowe Lintas, the creative agency of MullenLowe Lintas Group, has announced Anaheeta Goenka’s elevation as its chief operating officer (COO) for Unilever, South Asia and chief growth officer (CGO), effective 1 September.

    Having spent three decades working at Lowe Lintas, Goenka has had a role to play in shaping quite a few large multinational, Indian as well as start-up brands and is a name to reckon with in the industry.

    Goenka began her career with Lintas as a management trainee after graduating from SP Jain Institute of Management Studies. Over these years, she rose to hold key positions and is now part of the senior leadership at Lowe Lintas. Her elevation consolidates the entire Unilever relationship for South Asia under her leadership. As COO for Unilever, South Asia, she will lead the teams for brands such as Glow & Lovely, Axe, Tresemme, Vim, Domex, Nature Protect, Knorr, Kissan, Pepsodent, Closeup, Surf Excel, Wheel, Sunlight (Sri Lanka) and Lifebuoy Shampoo (SEA). Additionally, she has played an integral role in bringing new business and growth to the agency’s Mumbai office. As Lowe Lintas’ CGO, she will focus on strategic business development in a new challenging business environment – across all agency offices in India.

    “Ana has been a strong management pillar handling several Unilever brands and other business relationships. She has left her mark on so many brands and earned massive respect and love from clients and colleagues alike,” MullenLowe Lintas Group, Group CEO, Virat Tandon said. “Ana has the strategic clarity to steer a brand to success as well as the enthusiasm and fierceness for new business development like no other. I am sure she is the best choice for us to lead the Unilever portfolio as well as the strategic business development efforts of the agency.”

    Goenka has handled brands across a broad spectrum ranging from beauty & personal care, foods, homecare, BFSI, large conglomerates, to many new-age start-ups and businesses. She has navigated the agency to deliver some of its most iconic pieces of work such as Kan Khajura Tesan, Kissanpur, and the latest #IAmIndianPolice initiative. These have brought the agency laurels across India and international award shows such as Cannes, WARC Awards, Jay Chiat, Effies, among others. She has spoken and been on global juries of the same too.

    Reacting to her eventful journey in the agency, Goenka said, “It is great to be part of a dynamic ecosystem that operates at a fundamental level with ‘intention’ & ‘attention’ for all its brand work and strategic practice. Here’s to growth emanating from more purposeful work for Lowe Lintas and a healthy dose of disruption along with it.”

  • Vinod Thadani joins Dentsu International as DGO, media – India & CEO, iProspect India

    Vinod Thadani joins Dentsu International as DGO, media – India & CEO, iProspect India

    Mumbai: Dentsu International on Friday announced the appointment of Vinod Thadani as chief digital growth officer (DGO) for India. Thadani will also be taking on the additional role of chief executive officer (CEO), iProspect India. He will report to Media South Asia, CEO, Divya Karani.

    Thadani comes with over two decades of experience in media and advertising. Prior to Dentsu, he was associated with Mindshare as chief digital officer for the South Asia region. Previously, Thadani was the CEO of Madhouse India, a joint venture between WPP and Madhouse China, and played a crucial role in setting up India’s largest mobile advertising and marketing company.

    Speaking about the new development, Karani said, “Vinod is a strategic addition to our future-forward business design. His values and commitment to innovation resonate with all that dentsu stands for. I am fully confident his exceptional and in-depth mastery of digital will help our clients’ business scale new frontiers.”  

    Commenting on his new assignment, Vinod Thadani said, “I am excited to become an integral part of this network and look forward to the journey ahead. My contribution in dual capacities will be an opportunity to offer excellence and best-in-class services to all our clients specially in the space of digital performance, data-driven marketing, e-commerce, marketing effectiveness & creative. There is scale, specialisation & integration at the core of our offerings & through this journey, my goal is to pursue growth for our clients and the network.”

  • Uber elevates Ameya Velankar to head of marketing, India & South Asia

    Uber elevates Ameya Velankar to head of marketing, India & South Asia

    Mumbai: Uber has promoted Ameya Velankar as head of marketing, for India and South Asia region. He was previously the head – product marketing at the company.

    Velankar will be working closely with the India & SA leadership team to consolidate Uber’s growing presence in these strategic markets and further strengthen the brand Uber, said the company said in a statement.

    Velankar is a seasoned marketer who comes with over 13 years of experience in marketing, sales & operations across different geographies. He has been the interim lead for INSA since November 2020, and has played multiple roles at Uber in his two-and-a-half-year stint. Before Uber, he led category marketing for SC Johnson & was the group product head at Marico.

    “We are delighted as Ameya takes on his new role as head of marketing for INSA,” said Uber India South Asia president, Prabhjeet Singh. “Ameya has had a fantastic track record with Uber since 2019, and I am confident that he will help us build a stronger, diverse, and more engaged marketing team. At Uber, we continue to build and strengthen a team of industry experts who appreciate the impact of ridesharing and drive innovation for a better tomorrow.”

    Velankar commented, “I am extremely thrilled to be part of Uber’s journey as it continues to reimagine the way the world moves for the better. Uber has had a great impact on cities & communities in India. I am excited to be a part of this journey & make the brand Uber accessible to millions of customers in India.”

  • GroupM appoints Madhvi Pahwa as chief people officer, South Asia

    Mumbai: GroupM, WPP’s media investment group on Thursday appointed Madhvi Pahwa as its new chief people officer for the South Asia region (APAC). Pahwa, previously chief people officer at Mindshare APAC was promoted into the role to lead the GroupM India talent team and develop the company’s talent proposition for the region. She will report to GroupM South Asia CEO, Prasanth Kumar.

    In her six years as Mindshare’s APAC CPO, Pahwa led several ground-breaking initiatives in the region including, the design and rollout of Mindshare’s award-winning ‘Balance’ program in APAC. This resilience training programme won a Women Leading Change Award two years in a row (2020 & 2021) and is now being extended globally. She is also credited for bringing Mindshare’s ‘Momentum’ high potential leadership training programme to Asia and delivering numerous L&D programmes across commerce, AI, and planning.

    Pahwa replaces Rohit Suri, who is moving on to explore other opportunities.

    GroupM South Asia, chief executive officer, Prasanth Kumar said: “Madhvi has a proven track record of delivering innovation and education that moves the dial for the business. She is the perfect choice to lead the GroupM South Asia talent team and to lead us into the next phase of our growth. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Rohit Suri for his commitment and efforts in helping build the talent team across South Asia. We greatly appreciate his contributions and wish him the best.”

    Talking about her new role, Pahwa said: “Our employee promise has been to make Mindshare the place where you do your best work, and it has certainly been true for me. The people, priorities, and culture just come together almost magically to bring out the best in you. I am grateful and proud to be part of the GroupM network that has given me growth opportunities across multiple agencies and geographic remits spanning global, regional, and markets while supporting flexibility and personal priorities. I am super excited for the next chapter for GroupM India.”

    A replacement for the role of Mindshare APAC CPO will be announced shortly, said the company.

  • Blue Dart launches GoGreen digital initiative in line with global ESG benchmarking

    MUMBAI: South Asia’s express air and integrated transportation & distribution company, Blue Dart, has announced paperless transactions on their new digital portal for all vendor partners.

    The online launch event of the paperless technology was a registered event with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to mark the World Environment Day. Under the new sustainability roadmap, Blue Dart has made significant investments in developing future-ready technology to protect the environment and deliver excellence in a sustainable way.

    It has executed over 50 per cent of its customer invoices online and is working towards achieving a 100 per cent transition. “Manufacturing paper is energy-intensive; one A4 sheet requires approximately 50 watt-hours. Going paperless will help conserve energy, reduce CO2 emissions, avoid deforestation, protect the natural habitat and strengthen forest-based livelihood opportunities for the surrounding communities,” it said. The group has also planted 1, 11,000 trees annually, in order to offset 22, 20,000 kg of carbon per year upon their maturity.

    Blue Dart managing director Balfour Manuel said, “This initiative is our endeavour to inculcate sustainable business practices and at the same time raise the bar on innovation. Blue Dart is a market leader and we believe that if we navigate through our sustainability roadmap, we will be able to contribute to reducing India’s, and in the larger scheme of things, the World’s climate change issue – one step at a time.”

    The company said it has committed this decade to its efforts towards ecosystem restoration, while recognising the importance of fighting climate change and is integrating robust Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) mechanisms into this decade of ecosystem restoration.

    ESG is the new buzzword among multinational corporations, particularly in Europe, where compliance of these parameters has prompted most companies to adopt it as the prescribed mandatory compliance standard. In India too, the benchmarking is being slowly introduced with a recent advisory issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in March.

    Blue Dart chief financial officer, Aneel Gambhir said, “In the journey of being an ESG compliant organisation, we have identified sustainable ways to carry out business operations. We are committed to giving back to the community in which we operate and at the same time, we are doing all that it takes to restore and protect our environment. The pandemic era combined with climate change emphasises the urgent need for organisations to invest in the ecosystem, before it’s too late.”

    Blue Dart’s new sustainability roadmap calls for clean operations for climate protection, a great company to work for all, as well as building a highly trusted company. The express logistics provider has launched many initiatives to ensure it is doing its bit to aid the world in the battle against climate change and global warming. The company aims to make all their owned or leased facilities operate at net zero carbon (footprint) by 2025, drive increased efficiency and use cleaner fuels within their fleet of six Boeing 757 freighters, support customers with sustainable and optimized packaging solutions and design greener products and services through comprehensive solutions.

  • Dentsu India rejigs leadership, elevates Divya Karani & Kartik Iyer

    Dentsu India rejigs leadership, elevates Divya Karani & Kartik Iyer

    MUMBAI: Dentsu International has made key leadership changes in India as part of its global organisational redesign. Media Brands and Amplifi erstwhile president Kartik Iyer will now join the network’s market leadership team as its chief operating officer. He will continue to report into Anand Bhadkamkar and will be instrumental in driving the implementation of dentsu’s new business model within the country.

    Iyer will help navigate Dentsu’s global transformation program with a focus on collaborating with leaders and client teams across businesses in the market to change how the network works and inculcate the culture of operational excellence. He will engage with regional teams, global teams, and all other network brands to ensure that the ongoing transformation program and the new business model is efficiently adopted and effectively addresses local business requirements.

    The network has also appointed Dentsu X India CEO Divya Karani as the chief executive officer for media, south Asia. Here, media includes the agencies dentsu X, Carat, iProspect and Posterscope. She will continue to report into Anand Bhadkamkar. In this additional role, Karani will be responsible for driving the global media strategy and delivery in south Asia, ensuring its alignment and relevance to the market..

    “Dentsu is committed to delivering the best to its clients and Kartik and Divya are veterans in what they do,” said Bhadkamkar. “Kartik is recognised industry-wide for his media expertise while Divya is one of our finest from the industry. Her strength lies in delivering first-class, client-centric results and I am confident that their expertise and experience will only help accelerate the effectiveness, purpose, and performance offered to our clients.”

    Haresh Nayak will continue to serve as COO for dentsu Media in India in addition to his other current roles as president, Posterscope Asia Pacific and MD, Posterscope India, while Rubeena Singh is now in-charge of the freshly rebranded iProspect. For the record, the agency recently witnessed the merger of Vizeum and iProspect into one to bring together the former’s media strategy and planning, storytelling, and brand-building capabilities with the latter’s digital expertise, audience knowledge, and performance mindset. Anita Kotwani will continue to lead the Carat brand for India.

  • Disney to pull the plug on southeast Asia/HK networks

    Disney to pull the plug on southeast Asia/HK networks

    New Delhi: In what may come as a huge surprise for viewers in southeast Asia and Hong Kong, Disney is mulling over closing as many as 18 channels in the region from October this year. The end-of-an-era move could have a major impact on the entire video entertainment supply chain in the region.

    Disney staffers were told about the decision at a town hall out of Singapore on Tuesday, according to sources close to the development. The efforts are aimed at enabling the organisation “to align its resources more efficiently and effectively to current and future business needs.” However, an official statement is yet to be released.

    The move is believed to be part of The Walt Disney Company’s global efforts towards a direct-to-consumer-first model and further stimulating the growth of its streaming services.

    A senior mediaperson said India is unlikely to be affected by the move, which, while unfortunate, is not entirely unexpected. Last year, the M&E colossus restructured its global operations; this involved separating its India and Asia Pacific businesses after APAC president and Star & Disney India chairman Uday Shankar’s departure, and hiring new talent to spearhead its SVoD push in the southeast region.

    With Disney pulling the plug, as many as 18 channels could disappear from the airwaves, which includes Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life, and FX, movie channels including Fox Action Movies, Fox Family Movies, Fox Movies, and Star Movies China and some sports channels — Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2. Popular kids channels including Disney Channel and Disney Junior, music channel Channel V and actual services Nat Geo People; and SCM Legend could also go off air in the region. This leaves a question mark over how the other pay-TV platforms will fill the void.

    The multimedia giant is quickly gaining in the streaming space. Since its launch over a year ago, Disney+ has transformed itself into a streaming leader, with membership numbers flying past long-term forecasts.

    So far, Disney has rolled out Disney+ in Singapore along with a separate Hotstar app, and hybrid service Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia. Launches in other parts of southeast Asia and Hong Kong are likely this year. Disney+ has 2.6 lakh paying subscribers in Singapore as of April 2021 and 4.5 million in Indonesia, according to estimates presented by regional industry analysts Media Partners Asia.

  • Acast partners with JioSaavn to expand podcast network to South Asia

    Acast partners with JioSaavn to expand podcast network to South Asia

    MUMBAI: Global podcast giant Acast has partnered with JioSaavn, South Asia’s largest audio streaming platform, to enable it to leverage Acast’s extensive global network of shows. The partnership expands JioSaavn’s content offering exponentially, providing access to Acast’s infrastructure and the latest advances in podcast technology.

    The clear appetite for audio in South Asia — shown through JioSaavn’s existing 104 million+ Monthly Active User (MAU) base — is paramount to Acast’s understanding of the huge opportunity for podcasts in the market. And Acast and JioSaavn will align on one central mission: to popularize podcasts in South Asia.

    The companies’ aim is to educate listeners on both the merits of podcasts — including the flexibility to listen anywhere at any time — and the opportunity they provide to share culturally diverse, compelling content with global voices.

    Speaking of the partnership, AcaAcast partners with JioSaavn to expand podcast network to South Asiat’s Chief Business and Strategy Officer Leandro Saucedo said: “It’s Acast’s mission to bring podcasts to all ears, all over the world. We’ve been aware of the changing audio landscape in India for some time and, in JioSaavn, we’ve found the biggest and most impactful audio streaming platform in the region — dynamic, bold and ready to push boundaries, and the perfect partner to share our podcasts with.

     “There’s an audience hungry for audio in India, and we want to help give these listeners access to the extraordinary content emerging from all corners of the world, from incredible podcasting talent and recognized publishers.”

    In light of the partnership with Acast, Ishani Dasgupta, Lead – Podcast Partnerships at JioSaavn, said: “Podcasting is still largely nascent to consumers in the Indian market, with momentum growing quickly. The ability to grow and build new audiences, new shows, and establish pathways for brands to access both is really just the beginning for our 1.3 billion potential consumer market. As the leading podcast company globally, Acast recognizes this opportunity.”

    “We’re thrilled to be partnering to integrate its robust catalogue and unique vision for content development and acquisition in India and beyond. We look forward to working closely with Acast to grow overall podcast engagement among listeners in India, as well as to join creative forces on future content that speaks to India’s diverse cultural palette.”

    The infrastructure of the partnership provides a platform for Indian voices, enabling new independent podcasters to produce content, and connects JioSaavn with Acast’s large collection of global publishers including The Guardian, The Economist, Financial Times, BBC, VICE, PBS NewsHour, The Times and many more.

    Acast and JioSaavn believe connecting South Asia to this content in particular – already generating 200+ million listens on a monthly basis in Europe and North America alone – will help both expand such content beyond borders, and encourage and provide publishers with the opportunity to reach new audiences and create bespoke content with them in mind.

    Over the next two months the full effect of Acast and JioSaavn’s partnership will be visible, with Acast’s content appearing in full through JioSaavn.