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Tag: ZenithOptimedia

  • Ratheesh MS joins Starcom as vice president after long GroupM stint

    Ratheesh MS joins Starcom as vice president after long GroupM stint

    MUMBAI: Advertising veteran Ratheesh MS has taken charge as vice president at Starcom, the media agency under Publicis Groupe. His appointment follows a brief spell at WPP Media and a near decade with GroupM’s Motivator, where he rose to general manager.

    Ratheesh has built a reputation for steering high profile accounts across auto, telecom, e commerce, insurance and consumer goods. His career spans over 19 years with stints at ZenithOptimedia, Wavemaker, Carat, Lintas Media, MPG Group, Malayala Manorama and Infomedia.

    Among his proudest milestones: conceptualising India’s first car night rally for Maruti Suzuki’s Swift, delivering double digit growth for Jabong.com, and leading Honda Cars’ media win in a multi agency pitch.

    At Starcom, Ratheesh is expected to bring his trademark blend of disruptive growth strategy and meticulous media planning to fuel the agency’s next phase of expansion.

  • Pooja Tomar hops over to Publicis Groupe as senior director of buying

    Pooja Tomar hops over to Publicis Groupe as senior director of buying

    MUMBAI – Media maven Pooja Tomar is on the move again. After nearly three years as senior business director at Havas Media Group, Tomar has been snapped up by Publicis Groupe, stepping into the newly minted role of senior director, buying from April 2025. She will be based in India, working on-site.

    With more than a decade of navigating the labyrinth of media planning, buying and strategy across FMCG, e-commerce and technology, Tomar brings a bulging toolkit of cross-media skills to her new perch. Her career reads like a masterclass in media evolution — from digital hustle to broadcast muscle.

    Before Havas, Tomar clocked nearly five years across Starcom and Publicis’ ZenithOptimedia, sharpening her cross-platform planning chops. Earlier stints at Madison World and GroupM saw her navigating media buying with a keen eye on both budgets and ROI, across some of India’s top retail, telecom and tech accounts.

    Tomar’s trademark: an uncanny knack for aligning new technology with old-school brand strategy – and for chasing hard numbers with harder insights. Over the years, she has built a reputation for being a strategist who can not just plan campaigns but anticipate market moves, with a solid grip on consumer trends, media fragmentation, and the shifting sands of cross-platform engagement.

    Expect fireworks as she joins Publicis Groupe, bringing her “360-degree media brain” to a fiercely competitive Indian media marketplace.

  • Sony Mix’s ‘Media Ke Surtaj’ season 2 ends amid fanfare

    MUMBAI: The Grand Finale of the second season of ‘Media Ke Surtaj’ was held on Friday at Bungalow 9 in Mumbai. Organized by SPN’s music cluster channels, Sony MIX and Sony Rox HD and hosted by RJ Salil.

    A Karaoke competition amongst media professionals, Media Ke Surtaj, brought out hidden singing talent among media agency professionals. The audition rounds were held across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in agencies like OMD, Carat, Lodestar, Initiative, Publicis, Madison, ZenithOptimedia and GroupM between March 15 to 24, 2017. Elevated levels of enthusiasm and participation were displayed among all the participants and 180 contestants were shortlisted for Friday’s finale.

    The event was massive and the audience swayed and cheered all along the event. The winners were selected in two categories namely, the Popular choice and the Critics’ choice. Each category had two sub-categories, i.e, Solo & Duet. The video of each participant’s audition is up on display up on www.mediakesurtaj.com for an audience poll. The voting closed on April 7th, receiving a tremendous response with overall 32000+ votes being registered. The popular choice category winners were selected based on the maximum votes received. The jury for the Critics’ Choice Awards included the masters of the industry including music composer Ajay Singha and singer Ash King, among others.

    Ecstatic at the win, the Popular Choice Solo winner, Pankaj Dobhal from ZenithOptimedia, exclaimed, “I had not expected to win a singing competition my entire life. Doing something beyond your daily routine feels great and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me and had faith in my voice.” With all excitement, Critics’ choice Duet winners, Craig Viegas & Prachi Kalkar, GroupM said, “Singing has always been our hobby, never knew that it would get us such a big reward. We would like to thank Sony MIX for this initiative and giving us such a great platform to showcase our hidden talents.” Apart from these, Popular choice Duet category winners were Ashish Rane & Neelam Shridhankar from Carat Media and the Critics’ choice Solo category award was bagged by Gaurav Chopra from GroupM.

    The winners of the popular choice category won prizes worth INR 20,000/-, and the critics’ choice category got an all-expense paid trip to Dubai for 2.

    Talking about this innovative programme, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) Max Cluster & Sony Mix senior EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas said, “I feel, for most of us music is an integral part and one of the key drivers in our daily lives. Hence, we decided to use this musical platform to encourage media professionals to showcase their hidden talent while they get a break from their daily routine. We at SPN were elated with the first season of Media Ke Surtaj and extremely overwhelmed with the response received in this second season as well and will hopefully expand to new horizons soon.”

  • Nestle ties up with Snapdeal for new coffee launch with exclusive offering

    Nestle ties up with Snapdeal for new coffee launch with exclusive offering

    MUMBAI: Nestlé India announced the launch of a new coffee -Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter, adding to its range of coffee and beverages. Nestlé India has partnered with Snapdeal for an exclusive offering of this product starting April 30. The exclusive pack from Sanpdeal comes with a traditional South Indian steel tumbler.

    The company says that Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter provides the taste of filter coffee and yet does not require a filter and is specially made from 100 per cent Indian coffee beans, handpicked from Coorg and Chikmagalur.

    Announcing the launch Nestlé India General Manager – Beverages Nayla Sioufi said, “Traditionally, the coffee market in India is divided into two segments which include the instant and roast & ground coffee. Observing a trend of dual usage we realized that consumers want a product offering which provides the best of both worlds- the taste of filter coffee with the convenience of instant coffee. With the introduction of Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter we aim to create a whole new segment expanding the overall category in India while enhancing consumers coffee experience.”

    Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter will be available in the market at the cost of Rs 60 for a 24 gram pack that contains 15 sachets of 1.6 gram each as well as a 100 gram pack (tin) for Rs 225.

    Earlier this month, the Indian part of the largest food company in the world, launched a brand new exotic range of Greek Yoghurt under the brand name of Nestlé a+ Grekyo.

    For damage control and rebuilding of trust for its noodles products, Nestlé India hired McCann World Group for the Maggi Noodles relaunch, with the agency’s India unit chief executive Prasoon Joshi in charge of the creatives for the campaign. ZenithOptimedia handles the media buying duties for the company.

  • Nestle ties up with Snapdeal for new coffee launch with exclusive offering

    Nestle ties up with Snapdeal for new coffee launch with exclusive offering

    MUMBAI: Nestlé India announced the launch of a new coffee -Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter, adding to its range of coffee and beverages. Nestlé India has partnered with Snapdeal for an exclusive offering of this product starting April 30. The exclusive pack from Sanpdeal comes with a traditional South Indian steel tumbler.

    The company says that Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter provides the taste of filter coffee and yet does not require a filter and is specially made from 100 per cent Indian coffee beans, handpicked from Coorg and Chikmagalur.

    Announcing the launch Nestlé India General Manager – Beverages Nayla Sioufi said, “Traditionally, the coffee market in India is divided into two segments which include the instant and roast & ground coffee. Observing a trend of dual usage we realized that consumers want a product offering which provides the best of both worlds- the taste of filter coffee with the convenience of instant coffee. With the introduction of Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter we aim to create a whole new segment expanding the overall category in India while enhancing consumers coffee experience.”

    Nescafé Sunrise Insta-Filter will be available in the market at the cost of Rs 60 for a 24 gram pack that contains 15 sachets of 1.6 gram each as well as a 100 gram pack (tin) for Rs 225.

    Earlier this month, the Indian part of the largest food company in the world, launched a brand new exotic range of Greek Yoghurt under the brand name of Nestlé a+ Grekyo.

    For damage control and rebuilding of trust for its noodles products, Nestlé India hired McCann World Group for the Maggi Noodles relaunch, with the agency’s India unit chief executive Prasoon Joshi in charge of the creatives for the campaign. ZenithOptimedia handles the media buying duties for the company.

  • Performics India appoints Suhael Choudhury as west – SVP

    Performics India appoints Suhael Choudhury as west – SVP

    MUMBAI: In a significant development, digital and performance marketing firm Performics India has appointed Suhael Choudhury as Senior Vice President, Business Head –West.  She will report in to Mayoori Kango, chief digital officer for Performics & Resultrix.  Choudhury has fifteen years of experience across integrated marketing, account management and business development. Till recently, she was previously the Associate Director- Marketing & Campaign Management at Aimia Inc, which is a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company. Her experience spans key positions across companies such as Ignitee Digital Solutions, Ogilvy One Worldwide, Solutions Digitas, GroupM Interaction and Indigo Consulting. She has worked on brands such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Lakme Salon, The Mobile Store and UTI Mutual Funds. 

    Her role is to strategically build and support business transformation for Performics and drive cutting edge solutions in media analytics, media technology and programmatic solutions. Mayoori Kango, Chief Digital Officer, Performics & Resultrix says, “Suhael  Choudhury is a key hire for us and understands very well the interplay of Customer Communication, Technology, Data & Analytics. These are much sought after skills, not just in India but across the globe. She carries the responsibility of deepening and growing businesses across existing and new clientele. Our business is undergoing a transformation and the opportunities are huge. We are the undisputed leader in performance marketing and she will add visibly to our offering.” 

    Choudhury says, “In my fifteen years career in Integrated Marketing, I have constantly seen the next happening now. Technology has not only transformed brand communication, but also opened up multiple engagement points. Data is now the core of any business powered by technology enablers. I join Performics at a time when the group has embarked on its ‘Power of One’ vision with Publicis Media and hence I am even more excited about the tremendous possibilities that can create a deep impact on the business.”

    Performics has always held leadership position in the market as a pure play performance player. It has consistently enhanced its digital offerings—be the set-up of mobile marketing unit Performics Mobile in 2014, the setup of a media technology division in Bangalore or the Center Of Excellence teams in Delhi and Mumbai.  The group has seen significant increase in billings and revenues through new clients such as Airtel, Olx, Zopper to name a few. It and has also set up a ‘Communications Planning Team’ which uses data to map the consumer journey from awareness to buying.

  • Performics India appoints Suhael Choudhury as west – SVP

    Performics India appoints Suhael Choudhury as west – SVP

    MUMBAI: In a significant development, digital and performance marketing firm Performics India has appointed Suhael Choudhury as Senior Vice President, Business Head –West.  She will report in to Mayoori Kango, chief digital officer for Performics & Resultrix.  Choudhury has fifteen years of experience across integrated marketing, account management and business development. Till recently, she was previously the Associate Director- Marketing & Campaign Management at Aimia Inc, which is a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company. Her experience spans key positions across companies such as Ignitee Digital Solutions, Ogilvy One Worldwide, Solutions Digitas, GroupM Interaction and Indigo Consulting. She has worked on brands such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Lakme Salon, The Mobile Store and UTI Mutual Funds. 

    Her role is to strategically build and support business transformation for Performics and drive cutting edge solutions in media analytics, media technology and programmatic solutions. Mayoori Kango, Chief Digital Officer, Performics & Resultrix says, “Suhael  Choudhury is a key hire for us and understands very well the interplay of Customer Communication, Technology, Data & Analytics. These are much sought after skills, not just in India but across the globe. She carries the responsibility of deepening and growing businesses across existing and new clientele. Our business is undergoing a transformation and the opportunities are huge. We are the undisputed leader in performance marketing and she will add visibly to our offering.” 

    Choudhury says, “In my fifteen years career in Integrated Marketing, I have constantly seen the next happening now. Technology has not only transformed brand communication, but also opened up multiple engagement points. Data is now the core of any business powered by technology enablers. I join Performics at a time when the group has embarked on its ‘Power of One’ vision with Publicis Media and hence I am even more excited about the tremendous possibilities that can create a deep impact on the business.”

    Performics has always held leadership position in the market as a pure play performance player. It has consistently enhanced its digital offerings—be the set-up of mobile marketing unit Performics Mobile in 2014, the setup of a media technology division in Bangalore or the Center Of Excellence teams in Delhi and Mumbai.  The group has seen significant increase in billings and revenues through new clients such as Airtel, Olx, Zopper to name a few. It and has also set up a ‘Communications Planning Team’ which uses data to map the consumer journey from awareness to buying.