GroupM-owned media agency Wavemaker India has appointed Sairam Ranganathan as chief digital officer. In his new role, Ranganathan will strengthen digital capabilities and lead the newly formed team Wavemaker NorthStar. Ranganathan will continue to report into Vishal Jacob, chief transformation officer at Wavemaker India.
As the head of Wavemaker NorthStar, Ranganathan will work with clients to drive business outcomes. Team Wavemaker NorthStar will bring in the right experts across platforms, commerce, analytics and tech to orchestrate data-led solutions that yield business results. In addition he will also be responsible for accelerating growth in digital services, integrate and align the digital initiatives across business units for clients.
Commenting on the development, Ajay Gupte, CEO – South Asia, said, “At Wavemaker we are constantly evolving and adapting to help our clients grow by enabling better business solutions, build robust data-led experiences and positively provoke growth for them and for us. Sai brings in wealth of expertise and knowledge to deliver innovative customer initiatives across business domains, with a perfect balance of people management skills. I am confident that Sai is best placed to drive the digital-first agenda for us and our partners.”
“At Wavemaker our emphasis has always been to push the boundaries on our capabilities and provide our clients with an unmatched advantage through our services. In his new role Sai will consolidate and grow capabilities on digital media and lead a team called Wavemaker NorthStar that will help clients deliver business outcomes through data driven solutions. Given Sai’s passion, resilience, and commitment there could be no better person to lead this team and take our solutions to the next level”, added Vishal Jacob, Chief Transformation Officer at Wavemaker India.
A big Star Wars fan, Ranganathan has also co-authored two books on digital marketing in India – The Curious Digital Marketer and The Curious Digital Marketer 2.0.
Talking about his new role, Ranganathan shared, “My journey at GroupM has been incredibly thrilling and enriching. In these last 20 years I have grown significantly in my professional as well as personal life. I am grateful to Wavemaker for this exciting opportunity and I look forward to leading Wavemaker NorthStar as I start a new chapter in my growth journey to make Wavemaker an even more desirable partner for our clients.”