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.
Sumit Mathur
Previous: Chief marketing officer, Kellogg India
Sumit Mathur, who held the position of the chief marketing officer at Kellogg India, has quit the foods major. As a part of the South Asia leadership team, Mathur led the category strategy and business P&L for the brand. Mathur has an experience of two decades and started his career with Hindustan Unilever. He co-chairs the marketing leadership committee at the Confederation of Indian Industry, and is a member of the consumer complaints council at the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
Rajan Amba
Previous: Vice president – sales, marketing and customer service, Tata Motors
Present: Managing director, Jaguar Land Rover India
Automobile company Jaguar Land Rover India appointed Rajan Amba as the managing director starting March 1. Amba succeeds Rohit Suri, who will retire on March 31. Armed with an experience of over three decades, he has worked at HCL Technologies, Levi Strauss & Co, Nike and Titan Company.
Ajay Gahlaut
Previous: Chief creative officer, Dentsu Creative India
Ajay Gahlaut, who served as the chief creative officer at Dentsu Creative India, a global creative network and a part of Dentsu Group, has moved on. During his tenure, Gahlaut ran the network’s creative businesses under one optimised service line. Gahlaut, who has an experience of over two decades started his career at Rediffusion DY&R. He went on to work with Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann – Erickson, Planetasia, Ogilvy & Mather and Publicis Communications. The Indian unit of Dentsu Group Inc witnessed senior-level exits since August 2021, which led to more departures and deepening of the turmoil at the advertising company. Storyboard18 has learnt that a couple of more senior-level executives are on their way out. The network company has no chief executive officer to run the show in India. As per an agency insider, the agency is shortlisting candidates for the role of CEO to manage the India operations.
Lokesh Sah
Previous: Vice president – brand solutions, IdeateLabs
Present: Senior vice president – account management, Publicis Worldwide
Global creative network Publicis Worldwide has roped in Lokesh Sah as senior vice president – account management. Sah has an experience of more than two decades and has worked across TBWA\India, SOTC, Lowe Lintas, Havas Group India, FCB Ulka and Cheil India.
Marne Levine
Previous: Chief business officer, Meta
Marne Levine is stepping down from her position as the chief business officer at Meta. Levine has an experience of more than two decades and was Facebook’s vice president, global public policy for a period of four years from 2010 to 2014. She served as the chief operating officer of Instagram, Facebook’s photo and video sharing social networking service. She also held the position of vice president of global partnerships, business and corporate development at Facebook.
Ayush Paul
Previous: Vice president & head of brands, Ambuja Cements
Present: Vice president and head of marketing, digital and strategy, Livguard
Energy storage solutions brand Livguard has appointed Ayush Paul as the vice president and head of marketing, digital and strategy. Paul has an experience of more than a decade and has worked across Wipro Technologies, Toxics Link, Asian Paints and Bridgestone India.
Inderpreet Singh Sethi
Previous: Head of marketing – AV business, Samsung India
Present: National customer marketing and brand advocacy head – Luxury, Reserve, Craft & Premium, Diageo India
Electronics company Samsung India has appointed Inderpreet Singh Sethi. Sethi is armed with experience of more than a decade and has worked across MTNL, Springwel Mattresses, DCM Shriram Industries, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Tata Motors, BMW India and Great Wall Motor.
Siddharth Vinayak Patankar
Present: Chief creative officer and editor-in-chief, Acko Tech
Siddharth Vinayak Patankar has joined Acko Tech as the chief creative officer and editor-in-chief. In his new role as the chief creative officer, Patankar will lead Acko Tech’s newly created content division and create an end-to-end content platform for the wider audience. He will also be responsible for the overall content strategy to build brand love to connect with the audience. The new content division’s first play will be in the automobile and technology spaces, where he will play the role of an editor-in-chief. Patankar, who has an experience of more than two decades has worked across FremantleMedia, NDTV and carandbike. He has also held the position of vice chairman at World Car Awards.
Vivek Gupta
Previous: EVP, CoinDCX
Present: Chief technology officer, CoinDCX
Crypto investment app CoinDCX has promoted Vivek Gupta as the chief technology officer. In his new role, Gupta’s mandate will include enhancing and simplifying the user journey and product experience for CoinDCX’s customer base. Further, he will also handle the responsibilities of onboarding new users. Gupta has an experience of eight years and has worked across Klip, Craftsvilla, Vistaprint and Instamojo.
Mithun Appaiah
Previous: Chief executive officer, Innovative Foods
Present: Chief executive officer, WoW! Momo
Quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand WoW! Momo has appointed Mithun Appaiah as the chief executive officer. Appaiah’s responsibilities will include focusing on creating a vertical for select global markets where the branded range of WoW would be marketed. The brand has launched the Momo range across select channels. Armed with experience of two decades, he has worked across Nestle India, Pernod Ricard, United Spirits, Britannia Industries and iD Fresh Food.
Rohit Prakash
Present: Lead creative officer and head, Buffalo Soldiers
Rohit Prakash is the lead creative officer and head at full-service creative agency Buffalo Soldiers. Prakash will handle the mandate for Buffalo Soldiers’ creative teams across Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. He has previously worked at Taj Hotels, Famous Innovations, Rediffusion, Mukta Arts and Garage Worldwide.
Sahiba Bali
Previous: Brand manager, Zomato
Present: Associate director – marketing, Unacademy
Edtech company Unacademy has onboarded Sahiba Bali as the associate director of marketing. Bali has previously worked at NDTV Good Times, Miran Productions, McCann, Time Technoplast and Zomato Feeding India.
Vikas Deo
Previous: Founder and managing director, Navtek Solutions
Present: Vice president – Growth, India and MENA, First Sight
E-commerce marketing services agency First Sight has appointed Vikas Deo as the vice president of growth for India and the Middle East and North African (MENA) regions. Deo has an experience of more than a decade and has worked across Kotak life Insurance, IDBI Federal Life Insurance and Yes Bank.
Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy