Keep up with all the key people movements in the brand marketing ecosystem in Storyboard18’s CXO Moves. Here’s a round-up of the executives who are in, out, and in-between in the past two weeks. The past 15 days saw several big switches and the revolving doors in agencies keep swirling. Agencies are bolstering their creative and operations department with new hires and promotions. A legacy firm introduces a new global role and puts an Indian-origin CXO in charge. Get the full picture on these moves and all other people’s movements in this week’s CXO Moves.
Anirban Roy
Previous: Vice President and Head of Planning, McCann Worldgroup
Present: Head of Strategy, Wieden + Kennedy
Advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy appointed Anirban Roy as the head of strategic planning for its Delhi and Mumbai offices. Roy, who has more than 15 years of experience, has worked across Bates CHI&Partners, Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy and Silver Machine Digital Communications. Two weeks back, Wieden+Kennedy appointed Shreekant Srinivasan as the business head of the Delhi office.
Also, it’s sad to note that advertising legend Dan Wieden, the agency’s co-founder and the brain behind Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ died at age 77 on September 30.
Soma Maitra
Previous: VP & Head – Innovation and Incubation, Grocery Retail Business, Reliance Retail
Soma Maitra, who had served as the vice president and head – innovation and incubation of grocery retail business at Reliance Retail has decided to move on. During her stint, she was responsible for driving strategic CXO projects for the offline as well as online retail business. Further, she led ideation and execution of initiatives across 10+ categories such as staples, general merchandise, electronics, FMCG.
As she announced her departure via a LinkedIn post, she said, “…Moving on from my last role as an employee and today marks the start of my #EntrepreneurialJourney.”
Maitra, who has experience of more than two decades, has worked across Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Reliance Communications, Tupperware Brands, Future Group India, IFB Industries Ltd and Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Limited.
Recently, Reliance Retail entered into a multi-year collaboration with the global sports organisation NBA, in order to sell its merchandise at its stores in India. The NBA-branded merchandise includes a range of adult and youth apparel, accessories, back-to-school supplies and collectibles.
Rishabh Sharma
Present: Head of Core Business, Twitter Next Asia-Pacific
Rishabh Sharma has been promoted as the head of core business at Twitter Next Asia-Pacific. In his new role, Sharma will spearhead Twitter Next’s work with brands and businesses across the APAC region. Here, the focus would be on integrating the teams’ capabilities and the strategies of brands across markets into one holistic offering. Sharma previously worked with India Today, Percept Ltd, Dish TV, Times Internet and ICT Health.
Amitabh Bishnoi
Previous: Vice President – Digital Marketing, The New Indian Express
Present: Senior Vice President – Growth and Initiatives, Valueleaf
Amitabh Bishnoi has joined Valueleaf as the senior vice president of growth and initiatives where he will be responsible for the growth of group companies and new initiatives. Bishnoi, who has experience of more than a decade, has worked with Jagran Publications and Sahara India Mass Communication.
Srijan Shukla and Pratheeb Ravi
Previous: Group Creative Directors, Ogilvy India
Full-service agency from Publicis Groupe India, Publicis Worldwide India has appointed Srijan Shukla and Pratheeb Ravi as the head of creatives. Based out of Mumbai, their mandate will include reinvigorating and amplifying creative offerings while delivering integrated solutions that effectively solve the client’s business challenges. Shukla has worked with DDB Mudra Group, Leo Burnett, Culture Machine Media, Tilt Brand Solutions and Havas Group. Ravi has had stints at Triton Communications, Contract Advertising and Lowe for the MENA region.
Romy Walia
Previous: Manager of Products, Vendasta
Present: Chief Marketing Officer, Freed
Romy Walia has joined Freed, a debt relief platform as the chief marketing officer, and in his new role he will direct the company’s overall marketing strategy and execution, which includes consumer business and digital marketing. Walia has an experience of more than a decade and he has worked across Virgin Media, T-Mobile, Phones 4u, Value Partners, Jio and Vertoz.
Varun Bansal
Previous: Business Director, Wavemaker
Present: AVP – Media, Kinnect
Digital marketing agency Kinnect has appointed Varun Bansal as associate vice president of the media category. He will be based out of Delhi, and will report to Mihir Palan, the agency’s vice president. At Wavemaker, Bansal handled the digital business for Pernod Ricard and Mother Dairy. Bansal has worked with ZenithOptimedia Group, Mindshare and Madison Media Group. In July, Kinnect had appointed Ankur Garg as the executive creative director of its Delhi and Bengaluru offices.
Pooja Jauhari
Previous: CEO – VMLY&R India – VMLY&R | The Glitch | VYC | GTB
Present: Not known
Pooja Jauhari, who served as the chief executive officer of WPP-owned VMLY&R India has decided to move on. Saurabh Saksena, who is the president, Red Fuse Communications, will be taking her place. Jauhari led the combined operations of WPP-owned companies VMLY&R, The Glitch, VMLY&R Commerce and GTB, across its three offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. Plus, she also led their service of clients across the Indian subcontinent. She was also tasked with further integration of the network’s creative excellence in India.
Jauhari has experience of around two decades and has worked across Wunderman Thompson, Hindustan Unilever, Contract Advertising, DNA and World Wide Media. Jauhari told Storyboad18 that her next steps will be adopting a slow-growth life.
Recently, the other co-founders of The Glitch, Rohit Raj and Varun Duggirala also decided to move on from the agency.
Saurabh Jha
Previous: Senior Director – Growth, Marketing and Analytics, Housing.com
Present: Senior Vice President – Digital Marketing, ACKO India
Insurance company ACKO India has appointed Saurabh Jha as the senior vice president of digital marketing. His responsibility would include scaling and driving growth across all business units. His mandate will also include digital marketing, content, and strategic partnerships. Jha has worked with Northern Arc Capital and HolidayIQ.com, with experience in customer acquisition, co-marketing alliances and partnerships, brand marketing, content and product marketing. A week ago, ACKO India had named Aravind Venugopal as the general counsel where he will provide strategic counsel to the management team on expansion plans and new business initiatives.
Amrutha Nair and Dev Shenoy
Previous: Executive Vice President, and Head – Advertising Sales – Kids, Infotainment & Regional Entertainment Channels, Disney Star
Media company Disney Star has elevated Amrutha Nair and Dev Shenoy to the position of head of entertainment – ad sales and strategy, and head of entertainment – ad sales, respectively. Meanwhile, it has been reported that Disney Star India has managed to sell over 80 percent of its television and digital ad inventory for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, which will get underway on October 16 in Australia.
Abhirath Anuwal
Previous: Corporate Strategy and Development, Intuit
Present: Head of Commerce, BlissClub
Women’s activewear brand BlissClub has appointed Abhirath Anuwal as the head of commerce. His responsibilities will include marketing and revenue-generating activities across online and offline channels. Anuwal has previously worked with Deloitte and Bain & Company.
Hemant Rupani
Previous: Managing Director – Mondelez Kinh Do, Vietnam
Present: President – SEA, Mondelez International
American multinational food company Mondelez International has appointed Hemant Rupani as the president of the South East Asia region. Rupani replaces Glenn Caton who has moved to another position of the company’s global operations. Rupani will be responsible for the Southeast Asia cluster of markets. This includes the exports business in the broader Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, further leading growth and end-to-end business.
Mondelez also retained Wavemaker—its strategic partner since 2019—for its APAC media duties in August. This came following a global pitch. Wavemaker will continue working with Mondelez across Australia, New Zealand, India and Japan. In addition, the company has also extended duties to other countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Tulika Seth and Dalip Daniel
Previous: Executive Creative Director, Humour Me Pvt Ltd; Group Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather
Dentsu Creative, part of Dentsu International’s global creative network, has appointed Tulika Seth and Dalip Daniel to the position of group creative director and group executive creative director. Their responsibility will include focusing on boosting the agency’s creative competence for its existing and prospective clientele. They will design ideas that create culture, change society and invent the future by keeping modern creativity at the heart of the business.
Dalip has held leadership roles across Ogilvy & Mather, GroupM ESP, and BIG 92.7 FM. Tulika has experience of more than two decades and has worked across Lowe Lintas + Partners, TBWA\Worldwide, Grey Group, Innocean Worldwide and Everest Brand Solutions.
Recently, Joy Mohanty joined Dentsu Creative India as the chief creative officer, and Benny Augustine was promoted as the chief operating officer.
Thibault Cuny
Previous: MD and CEO, Pernod Ricard – South Asia and India
Thibault Cuny, who served as the managing director and chief executive officer of the beverage company Pernod Ricard for the South Asian, and the India region, has decided to step down from his position due to medical reasons. Though he will continue to be a part of Pernod Ricard, in the interim, Philippe Guettat, the chairman and chief executive officer of the company, will be in charge of Pernod Ricard South Asia, which includes India. In his role at Pernod Ricard India, Cuny was actively driving the group’s transformation agenda with accelerated focus on ‘premiumisation’, ‘inclusion diversity’, ‘sustainability and responsibility’ and ‘ethics and compliance’.
A week ago, it was reported that Indian authorities demanded USD 244 million from the local unit of Pernod Ricard because they undervalued concentrate imports for over a decade in order to avoid full payment of duties.
Preeya Vyas
Previous: Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, DeVito/Verdi
Present: Global Chief Experience Officer, Wunderman Thompson
Wunderman Thompson has appointed Preeya Vyas as the first global chief experience officer. Her responsibility will see her lead and orchestrate the network’s CX practice. At DeVito/Verdi, she built a practice ground up which was focused on digital platform development. Vyas has an experience of more than two decades and has worked across J. Walter Thompson, Paperloop, Wunderman, mcgarrybowen and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy