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’ve moved jobs, got bigger roles, switched industries and more.
Deepak Iyer
Present: Executive vice president and president, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), Mondelez International
Mondelez International has named Deepak Iyer as the executive vice president and president, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), which will be effective from June 5. Currently, Iyer is the president, India & Southeast Asia. In his new role, he will be responsible for leading the company’s $6.8 billion AMEA business across more than 70 countries, which includes iconic brands such as Oreo and belVita biscuits, Cadbury chocolate and Kinh Do cakes.
Iyer comes with an experience of more than three decades and has worked across Tata Telecom, Coats Viyella India, Marico, PepsiCo, Wrigley and Bharti AXA Life Insurance.
Saugata Gupta
Present: Managing director and chief executive officer, Marico
Marico has brought Saugata Gupta on board once again as the managing director and chief executive officer for a period of two years. Gupta is armed with an experience of over three decades and has worked across Mondelez International, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, JSW Paints and Ashok Leyland.
Adityan Kayalakal
Previous: Senior director – brand and creative strategy, Byju’s
Adityan Kayalakal has moved on from Byju’s. He comes with an experience of 18 years and has worked across Grey Group, Wannabe Films, Bates CHI&Partners, Rediffusion Group, BBH India, Digitas India and Publicis Groupe.
Rahul Jain
Present: General manager – marketing, Paytm
As per a media report, Paytm has brought Rahul Jain on board as the general manager – marketing. He is armed with an experience of over 15 years and has been a part of companies like Gaana, Stanza Living, GTB and Vibgyor Brand Services.
Prateek Bhardwaj
Present: Chief creative officer and head of creative, India, Lowe Lintas
Mullenlowe Lintas Group’s creative agency Lowe Lintas has appointed Prateek Bhardwaj as the chief creative officer and head of creative for the India region. This is a part of the restructuring of the creative leadership.
In his new role, Bhardwaj will now supervise all of Lowe Lintas’ offices, which include Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurugram, and Kolkata. He will partner Subbu, the Group’s recently appointed chief executive officer. Amongst other changes, Sagar Kapoor takes charge as chief creative officer, global brands, and will also oversee the Mumbai creative operations.
Bhardwaj is armed with an experience of 15 years and started his career at Eleven Brandworks. From there, he moved to McCann Worldgroup.
Saurabh Nath
Previous: Head of brand marketing, Swiggy
Present: Associate director, Perfetti Van Melle
Perfetti Van Melle has brought Saurabh Nath on board as associate director. Nath has an experience of 14 years and has worked across TNS Global, Kellogg Company, Ola, Ola Foods and OZiva.
Tarun Jain
Previous: Chief executive officer – Costa Coffee, Devyani International
Present: Chief executive officer, Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons has appointed Tarun Jain as the chief executive officer. He stepped into the shoes of Navin Gurnaney. Jain comes with an experience of three decades and has worked across Taj Hotels, Nirula’s Corner House, Pan India Food Solutions, LiteBite Foods, Square Foot Hospitalities, The Beer Cafe, Nando’s.
Abhay Ojha
Present: Chief executive officer, Zee Media
Abhay Ojha will now head Zee Media as the chief executive officer. He has an experience of more than three decades and has been a part of companies like Hindustan Unilever, Turner, Indusind Media & Communication, Star TV Network, Shop CJ India, Changa, and has held diverse roles aT Zee Media Corporation.
Dev Narayan Sarkar
Godrej & Boyce has appointed Dev Narayan Sarkar as Godrej Interio’s consumer business. Sarkar comes with an experience of two decades and he has worked across The Coca-Cola Company, Nokia India, Idea Cellular and PepsiCo.
Smruti Sachin Bhalerao
Present: Associate director, Dentsu Creative
Dentsu Creative has roped in Smruti Sachin Bhalerao as the associate director. Bhalerao comes with an experience of 14 years and has worked across The Nielsen Company, Exhibit magazine, Prittle Prattle and Walktails.
Janvi Mehta
Present: Senior director – Investments, Mindshare
Mindshare has appointed Janvi Mehta as senior director – investments. In her new role, Mehta will be responsible for digital west Buying, Mindshare west accounts.
Mehta is armed with an experience of 15 years and has worked across Red Bull India, Hindustan Times, Times Internet, Zomato, NBCUniversal and ByteDance.
Vishakh Narendran
Previous: Senior vice president, The Good Glamm Group
Present: Chief business officer, Pilgrim
D2C personal care brand, Pilgrim has roped in Vishakh Narendran and Ameya Gogate as chief business officer. Narendran comes with an experience of 15 years and has worked across Altius Customer Services and Sanghvi Brands.
Arnab Kundu
Creative agency Buffalo Soldiers has promoted Arnab Kundu as the head of delivery. Kundu is armed with an experience of seven years and has worked across FollowYourSport and P&S Market Research.
Saahil Nayar
Present: Chief executive officer, Swiss Beauty
Saahil Nayar will now function as the chief executive officer of Swiss Beauty. Armed with an experience of 15 years, Nayar has worked across Tata Teleservices, Nitya Marketing, Nehsahf Global, RAAS, Ermenegildo Zegna Group, Infinite Luxury Brands, Seventy Event Media Group, Kama Ayurveda, Revlon, The Moms Co and IDAM House of Brands.
Kapila Sethi
Previous: Head of marketing, DLF Limited
Present: Head of marketing, William Grant & Sons
William Grant & Sons has appointed Kapila Sethi as head of marketing. In her new role, Sethi will look into the operations of the company’s portfolio of Scotch whisky and premium spirits brands.
Sethi comes with an experience of over two decades and has worked across Samsung India Electronics, Grohe India and Kohler India.
Kumar Amit
Previous: Vice president of business development, Razorpay
Present: Co-founder and COO, Castler
Castler has roped in Kumar Amit as the co-founder and COO. Amit comes with an experience of two decades and has worked across Tata Teleservices, AAR, White Walls Media and MobiKwik.
Image source: LinkedIn
Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy