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Havas India, part of Paris-headquartered advertising network Havas, has elevated Jaibeer Ahmad, formerly managing partner – north at Havas Worldwide India to chief transformation and growth officer. In this newly created role in India, Jaibeer will set transformative strategies, driving business growth through integration and collaboration across all 18 Havas India agencies.

Ahmad will report to Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas India, South East Asia & North Asia (Japan & South Korea).

Ahmad joined Havas Worldwide India in December 2022. Under his leadership, the agency secured key accounts and welcomed renowned clients, reinforcing Havas India's position in the market. Known for his business growth acumen, Ahmad has been a driving force behind Havas Worldwide India's new business growth in the North India market. He managed some of the biggest accounts of the agency including Reckitt, Suzuki 2 Wheelers, Dabur and IFB, and won some marquee clients including Mamaearth, IFB, Badshah, Blinkit, IQOO, amongst others, contributing significantly to brand strategy, creative development, and overall revenue expansion.

“The last 5 years have been a period of exponential growth for Havas India, having grown steadily from 3 to 18 agencies, both organically and inorganically delivering nine differentiated services to our clients. While this momentum will continue, and we will be adding a few more expertise, it is now critical that we consolidate and leverage the strength of our offering to enlarge the services and accelerate business growth," said aid Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas India, South East Asia & North Asia (Japan & South Korea).

"Jaibeer has the nuanced understanding of the One Havas ethos, the strategic knowhow to turn opportunities into tangible outcomes, and strong, people-focused leadership, and I am confident that he will make Havas India one of the top growth markets within the Havas ecosystem through integration,” Barua added.

“At Havas India, I've had the incredible opportunity to collaborate across an array of functions, including, Media, CX, Experiential, PR, UI/UX, E-commerce, Programmatic, Brand Design, Health, and many more. The beauty and the strength of this model is that all these expertise are under one roof. This experience crystallized the vital need for an integrated ecosystem like our Havas Village, navigating today's complex marketing landscape. In this new role, my mission is clear: foster convergence and collaboration among our 18 agencies and the growing ecosystem, and craft customised, integrated solutions for our clients,” said Ahmad. 

With over 23 years of experience in advertising and marketing brand-building, Ahmad has held leadership positions for the past 12 years, during which time, he has significantly contributed to brand strategy, creative development, new business acquisition, overall revenue growth, and team mentoring.  


Havas India elevated Jaibeer Ahmad to Chief Transformation and Growth Officer

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.

Kavitha Rao

Previous: Country Commercial Manager, IKEA India 

Present: Not known

Kavitha Rao, who had served as the country commercial manager for IKEA India has stepped down from her position. At IKEA India, she led the business agenda for India across sales, marketing, home furnishing and retail design, customer experience and food to build the brand. Rao, who has more than two decades of experience has worked across Hindustan Unilever Limited, Infosys BPM, Target, Walmart, Capgemini etc. 

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Vinay Golkeri 

Present: Managing Director, India & Neighbouring Countries, Bacardi 

Bacardi announced the appointment of Vinay Golikeri as Managing Director, India & Neighboring Countries. Golikeri will be responsible for leading commercial operations across the market for the company’s portfolio of premium spirits and will continue to ensure ongoing sustainable and profitable growth for the business. In his new role, Golikeri will head the India Leadership Team and will report to Vijay Subramaniam, Regional President, Asia, Middle East & Africa, and Global Travel Retail. Golikeri has been with Bacardi since 2003 and has a long and deep connection with the India market.

Golikeri succeeds Sanjit Singh Randhawa who, after nearly five years as Managing Director, India & Neighboring Countries, will be moving to Dubai, UAE, to take on his new role as Director, External Affairs, Asia Middle East & Africa and Global Travel Retail. 

Balachandran V

Previous: National Trading Director, Dentsu Media and Holdings India

Present: Executive Vice President - Buying North, Havas Media

Media company Havas Media has appointed Balachandran V as the executive vice president - buying north. He will be responsible for media investments of all the clients in the North. Balachandran, who has over two decades of experience, has worked across MPG, Mindshare, Motivator etc. 

Anjana Ghosh

Previous: Director of Marketing and Business Development, Bisleri International

Present: Chief Executive Officer, Xotik Frujus

Beverage company Xotik Frujus has appointed Anjana Ghosh as the chief executive officer. Ghosh, who had joined Bisleri International in 2006 was responsible for innovating the brand and strategising the engineering of Bisleri from blue to green. Recently, at Xotik Frujus, the brand adopted a youthful and polished design, and packaging.

Bonsy Mehta and Afshaad Kelawala

Previous: Principal Writer & Creative Head, The Wordologists; 

Head - Growth Marketing, Clinikk

Present: Lead - branding & consumer-centricity and Content Marketing, Schbang Theta; Associate Vice President- integrated solutions, Schbang

Schbang has promoted Bonsy Mehta to lead the branding and consumer-centricity division of Schbang Theta along with its content marketing vertical. Further, the agency has appointed Afshaad Kelawala as the associate vice president for integrated solutions. Mehta, who has more than a decade experience has worked across Afternoon Despatch & Courier, Copy Mug etc. Kelawala has 15 years of experience and has worked across JM Financials, Concept Communications, Montblanc, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.

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Anika Agarwal

Previous: Chief Marketing Officer and Director - Digital Business, Max Bupa

Present: Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Orient Electric

Electrical equipment manufacturer Orient Electric, which is a part of CK Birla Group, has appointed Anika Agarwal as the chief marketing and customer experience officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for all aspects of the brand, supporting growth and expansion across business units and scaling up the digital footprint of the consumer electrical business. Agarwal, who has two decades of experience has worked across Agrani Convergence, A Zee Group Company, Indian Cellular Association, Nokia India etc. In March 2022, Max Bupa Health Insurance Company was rebranded as Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company.

Yogesh Rijhwani and Abhishek Deshwal

Previous: Executive Creative Directors, Taproot Dentsu

Present: Creative Director, Wieden + Kennedy

Advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy Mumbai has appointed Yogesh Rijhwani and Abhishek Deshwal as creative heads. Rijhwani, who has more than a decade experience, has worked across Oberoi IBC, Thoughtshop Advertising, Scarecrow Communications Ltd., etc. Deshwal, who has 16 years of experience has worked across Draft FCB Ulka, Saatchi & Saatchi, Contract Advertising, Rediffusion Y&R, Mudra Communications, JWT and MullenLowe Lintas Group.

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Keerthi Kumar

Previous: Group Account Director, Foxymoron

Present: Business Head - South, Foxymoron

Independent full-funnel creative and performance digital agency of the Zoo media network Foxymoron has promoted Keerthi Kumar to the position of the business head of the south region. Kumar will be responsible for leading business operations, and fostering business development across the region, contributing to the overall growth of the Zoo Media conglomerate. Kumar will also continue to report into Prachi Bali, national head - client partnerships of the agency. Kumar, who has more than a decade experience has worked across Goldman Sachs, Maximizer e-Services, FireBringer Media, Phantom Ideas, Dentsu Webchutney and HealthCare Global. 

Amlan Pati

Previous: Head E-Commerce, D2C and Digital Marketing, CavinKare

Present: Not known

Amlan Pati, who had served as the head of e-commerce, D2C and digital marketing at CavinKare, a consumer products manufacturing company, has decided to move on. Pati started out at CavinKare as marketing head - digital and e-commerce. He’s had stints at Panasonic India and realme. 

Sam Thomas, Rehan Ali, Atishay Agrawal, Pratishtha Dehariya

Previous: Sr. VP - National Digital Head, OMD Worldwide; Sr. Director - Digital Strategy and Planning - India, iProspect; AVP - Performance Marketing, Value 360 Communications Private Limited; Senior Manager - Business Strategy, Merkle Sokrati. 

Present: Head – Performance & Product, India; Partner – Performance (North and East); Senior Director – Performance (South); and Partner – Performance (West), Mindshare 

Global media and marketing services company Mindshare has roped in Sam Thomas, Rehan Ali, Atishay Agrawal and Pratishtha Dehariya. Thomas will look after the performance business, productizing services and building enhanced capabilities for clients.

Ali will bring in more efficiencies for an existing set of clients and grow the performance marketing portfolio. He will also support teams to bring on board new clients in the northern and eastern markets. Agrawal will help grow the existing business efficiently, and grow the performance portfolio for Mindshare in the South. Dehariya’s role is to lead the performance business for Mindshare West. 

Ali, Agrawal, and Dehariya will join Thomas’s team as key appointments. Thomas has over 16 years of experience in digital marketing, and has worked across Accenture, Convonix Inc, Logicserve Digital, PHD India (Omnicom Media Group), Resolution Media etc. Ali has 16 years of experience and has worked across Indiamart Intermesh Limited, Webchutney, Madison Media Plus, Digitas, Reprise Media India Pvt Ltd, Cheil India, Value 360 Communications Private Limited etc.

Agrawal comes with eight years of experience and has worked across KPMG, Talview, ZPX etc. Dehariya has over a decade experience and has worked across iProspect Communicate 2, YouTube, Accenture, Sizmek, PHD, MightyHive etc.

Pravesh Saha

Previous: Head of Sales & Education and Leadership Team Member, Wella India

Present: General Manager, India and South Asia, Wella India

Global beauty brand Wella India has appointed Pravesh Saha as the general manager of the India and South Asia region. Saha, who has more than a decade's experience, was with ITC Limited for 11 years. In April, Wella had announced that it is acquiring Briogeo, one of the fastest growing hair care brands in the world. Further, the brand is also known for being one of the largest independent-black owned brands in the United States.

Mohammedullah Shaikh and Richa Chugh

Previous: Head of Customer success and delivery (VP Technology), Grapes Digital; and Digital Head - West Region, Motivator, GroupM

Present: Vice President - Media; Senior VP & Head – Tech Services, Digitas India 

Global marketing and technology agency from Publicis Groupe, Digitas India has roped in Mohammedullah Shaikh and Richa Chugh. Shaikh, who has more than a decade experience, will lead all technology services mandates at the agency. He will work closely with Sonia Khurana, chief operating officer, and Roopesh Pujari, chief technology officer of Publicis Groupe. Chugh, who has 15 years of experience, has worked across IntegralPR, Maxus, Sportz Interactive, Interactive Avenues, Innocean Worldwide, etc. In August, Audio-wearable brand boAt along with Digitas India hosted India’s first K-Pop concert in the metaverse.

Santosh Kumar

Previous: Managing Director, India, HRS Group

Present: Country Head - Indian subcontinent and Indonesia, Booking

Online travel agency Booking has appointed Santosh Kumar as the country head for the Indian subcontinent and for Indonesia. He stepped into the shoes of Ritu Mehrotra. Kumar will play a critical role in driving growth, strategy and operations across the Asia Pacific region. Kumar, who has more than a decade experience, has worked across Lucent Technologies, Deloitte, Collabera, American Express etc. Citi will be launching Citi Travel where the travel booking platform will be powered by Booking.com and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rocket Travel.

Arthur Sadoun

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe’s Arthur Sadoun will stay on for four more years as the chairman and chief executive officer. In another Groupe moves, Steve King has been appointed as the chairman of Publicis Groupe Europe, where he will continue to work for some major clients. Publicis Groupe also made Jane Lin-Baden the chief executive officer for the APAC region.

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Amit Dhawan

Previous: Founding Partner and Business Head, Schbang Delhi; Head Of Media, Schbang

Present: Chief Executive Officer and Partner, Art-E MediaTech

Full service marketing and advertising agency Art-E MediaTech has appointed Amit Dhawan as the chief executive officer and partner in the agency. Dhawan, who has eight years of experience, started his career with Samsung Engineering as a trainee. Then he went to work with digital marketing agencies like Sociowash and Schbang. Art-E was founded by Rohit Sakunia, Tejender Sharma and Animesh Mukherjee in 2018. 

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Sumanto Chattopadhyay

Previous: Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, 82.5 Communications

Sumanto Chattopadhyay will be retiring from his position later this month at 82.5 Communications India, an advertising agency which is a part of WPP and Ogilvy Group. Chattopadhyay was with the Ogilvy Group for three decades. Anuraag Khandelwal and Mayur Varma will step in as the joint creative officers. Chattopadhyay also held the position of executive creative director, South Asia at Ogilvy. 

Jane Lin-Baden

Previous: Managing Partner APAC & CEO North Asia, Publicis Groupe

Present: Chief Executive Officer, APAC, Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe has named Jane Lin-Baden as the chief executive officer of the APAC region, where she will look after the South Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia region. Also, former APAC/MEA CEO Loris Nold has been given the newly created role of CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Here, he will oversee all European operations and markets and will continue to supervise those in the Middle East and Africa. Few weeks ago, Publicis Groupe India had appointed Hari Krishnan as the managing director and head, Publicis Content.

Smitha Narayanan

Previous: Marketing Manager, Wipro Yardley

Present: Head - Sales and Marketing, MM TV India 

Malayala Manorama Television (MM TV) has appointed Smitha Narayanan as the head of sales and marketing. Narayanan, who has more than two decades of experience has worked across Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Wipro etc.


Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy

CXO Moves: Execs move up, in and out at Bacardi, Ogilvy, Bisleri, Havas, Mindshare, and more

Note to readers: Media Mavens is a new Storyboard18 series featuring media investment firms and power players - the X-Women and X-Men who make the big calls on how and where to spend advertisers' money. This is a peek into their minds - how they work in a dynamic landscape, the next big trends they’re watching for, insights into what advertisers need today, the disruptions driving change and the factors driving their decisions. Watch this space for all that and more.

The fact that BARC ratings are the only currency that the TV ecosystem has, is not up for any debate anymore. The absence of ratings in the news genre made it clear how difficult it is for the advertisers, the media agencies and the broadcasters to do business.

Why exactly?

“News is probably the best frequency builder for advertisers today, given the coverage it can provide in a country like India with so many regional languages and nuances and ratings just helps in validating the decisions that we as planners take and the choice of channels,” says Sanchita Roy, Havas Media Group India.

Read on

It’s been close to six months that BARC ratings are back for the news genre. How has it helped in decision making, especially since the last two years had no rating system in place for the genre?

We have seen an exponential growth in News as a genre on the back of the pandemic and other global crises. There will always be a demand for News, the platform for consumption however may change. 
Intuitively, all of us would agree that the genre works/delivers even with no ratings. Ratings just help in validating the decisions that we as planners take and the choice of channels. Not only that, ratings also allow one to rationalize the cost, thereby bringing in more efficiencies for advertisers/clients.

How important are ratings when it comes to media investments and spending ad money? What are the other factors you consider?

What drives ratings today is engagement, the quality of audience and the audience experience with content on the platform. Today audiences are exposed to a plethora of content that is easily accessible across multiple platforms. Therefore, it becomes so much more important to ensure that you not only have the right reach and distribution but also the right content, which in turn would lead to higher time spent/engagement on the platforms. That determines the ratings. So, the more time audiences spend watching a channel/program, the higher its ratings will be. This is true for all genres, including news. 

Currently, BARC is the only currency that is there in the industry basis which millions are being spent. Any consumer connect will obviously throw some light on what is working on-ground in terms of channels/programs but to arrive at efficiencies you need a proper metric on which to base your decisions. The reality is BARC throws light only on TV viewership data. However, there is a lot of news consumption that is also happening on digital platforms today which unfortunately is not getting captured anywhere. This, I think, is the biggest challenge facing our industry today but in the absence of any other data source, the only option is to look at BARC. 

How critical is reach for a news broadcaster? Are ad rates and reach directly proportional?

Reach is the number of people who watch a particular channel within a specified period of time. The first requirement for any channel is to ensure sufficient distribution/coverage so as to ensure maximum exposure to the potential audience base. News is probably the best frequency builder for advertisers today, given the coverage it can provide in a country like India with so many regional languages and nuances.

Talking of reach, how do you think having a strong digital presence helps in amplification? Do you give more preference to networks that offer bundled deals?

Today, there is a lot of media consumption that is happening across multiple digital channels through the smartphone. Therefore, having a strong digital presence not only helps in amplification but also ensures that one is reaching out to the potential audience set no matter where the consumption is happening.

Secondly, campaign objectives determine the deals that we buy on behalf of our clients. So if a client brief demands that we look at offline plus online presence on news as a genre we will go ahead and do it. Finally, it’s about understanding the consumer decision journey that will form the base of all recommendations.

With the festive season around the corner, what are the factors you are considering while doing business with a broadcaster? Any genre that is leading the charts?

Again, it’s a very fragmented media ecosystem today, you need to be present across genres to ensure maximum visibility, especially during the festive season which is otherwise very cluttered. Hence, depending on what the end goals are we would be looking at options with broadcasters to better deliver on our client’s business objectives.

Media Mavens: ‘Ratings allow one to rationalize cost,’ says Sanchita Roy of Havas Media

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Santosh Iyer

Previous: Vice President - Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz

Present: Managing Director, Mercedes-Benz

German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz announced that it has elevated Santosh Iyer as the managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India. Iyer succeeds Martin Schwenk who will assume the responsibility as the president and chief executive officer, Mercedes-Benz Thailand. Both these appointments will be effective from January 1, 2023. On his new role, Iyer says, “Mercedes-Benz is at the cusp of transitioning to an exciting, electrified future and it is a privilege for me to steer the brand, introduce emerging trends and continue to define new benchmarks for our customers. We have a fantastic winning team comprising our colleagues and Franchise Partners with proven records, and I am eager to continue this winning story.” 

Iyer, who is currently serving the company as vice president, sales & marketing, has been associated with Mercedes-Benz India since 2009. With more than two decades of diverse experience in the Indian automobile industry, Iyer has worked across across sales, marketing, retail, customer service and corporate affairs. In 2016, he took up the responsibility as vice president, customer services & retail training business.

He played an instrumental role in the turnaround of the Customer Services business, successful implementation of new initiatives like MB Tyres, Parts Trading and setting up the Mercedes-Benz Academy.

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Vineeta Wagh

Previous: Lead - Ecosystem Marketing (Mi & Redmi), Xiaomi India

Present: Not known

Vineeta Wagh, who worked as the lead for the ecosystem marketing division for Mi and Redmi, has decided to move on. As she announced her departure via LinkedIn, she said, "Hopefully the next chapter of the work-life will start soon after a short work break." Wagh has prevously worked for Seagull Advertising and Zivame. Recently, Xiaomi India along with Oppo and Vivo came under the radar of the Indian enforcement directorate. Plus, Xiaomi cut 900 jobs in India and China owing to a 20 percent fall in global revenue during the June quarter. On August 24, Xiaomi announced a new Redmi Note 11SE in India. 

Ashwin Padmanabhan and Sidharth Parashar

Previous: President - Trading and Partnerships; President - Investments and Pricing, GroupM

Present: President – Investments, Trading and Partnerships, GroupM India; Chief Investment Officer, Mindshare APAC

Media investment company GroupM promoted Ashwin Padmanabhan to the president for investments, trading and partnerships. Siddharth Parashar was promoted to chief investment officer for Mindshare APAC. Padmanabhan will be based out of Gurugram, and Parashar will be based out of Singapore. In their new role, Padmanabhan will continue to report to Prasanth Kumar, chief executive officer for the South Asia region of GroupM. Parashar will report to Helen McRae, chief executive officer, Mindshare APAC. Padmanabhan has worked at Reliance Industries, Big 92.7 FM, Reliance Media World and Reliance Broadcast Network etc. Parashar has had stints at Universal McCann, Madison Communications, Wavemaker etc. A week ago, Arshan Saha was named as the CEO of GroupM Nexus APAC and Jon Thurlow was named as the chief operating officer. 

<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Anupama.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="450" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1736" />

Anupama Ramaswamy

Previous: Managing Partner and National Creative Director, Dentsu Impact

Present: Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide India

Integrated communications company Havas Worldwide India appointed Anupama Ramaswamy as the chief creative officer. She comes on board to further catapult the creative transformation of the agency. She will assume her new role from October, and will report to Bobby Pawar, the chairman and chief creative officer. She will also work closely with the company’s managing director Manas Lahiri. Ramaswamy will be based out of Gurugram and will overlook the complete client roster of both the Gurugram and Mumbai offices. In 2021, Havas Worldwide India garnered over 30 percent growth across its Mumbai and Gurgaon offices on the back of significant business wins. Ramaswamy has worked with agencies like JWT and Cheil India, and several marquee global and Indian brands across sectors - Maruti Suzuki, Ikea, Vivo, Paytm, Subway, Tata Tea Digital, Samsung Mobiles, Airtel, Dabur, Lacoste, Whirlpool and many more. 

Ravinder Siwach, who led the creative mandate of Havas Worldwide India as the executive director and national creative director will be in the agency till October 2022. Two weeks ago, Havas Worldwide made three major appointments where Govind Agarwal, Sulagna Chanda and Neha Gupta were appointed as vice president – account management, associate vice president – strategic planning and associate vice president – client servicing.

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Petr Solc

Previous: Brand Director - Skoda Russia

Present: Director - Sales and Marketing, Skoda India

Automobile manufacturer Skoda India, which is owned by Volkswagen Group, has appointed Petr Solc as the director of sales and marketing. Solc joins Skoda India from Skoda Russia, where he was the brand director. Solc will step into his new role from 1st September, and Zac Hollis, who Solc succeeds, will remain as the director of sales and marketing until 30th September. Solc, who has over 18 years of experience, started his career with Volkswagen Group, and was based out of Latin America where he worked as a product and price analyst. Recently, Skoda released the official sketches of its three-row vision 7S 7-seat electric SUV concept. The model will be unveiled on 30th August. According to reports, India has pipped China to become the third largest market (in volume terms) in the first half of 2022 for Skoda. 

Sudeep Bansal

Previous: AVP - Marketing, Swiggy

Present: Vice President - Growth, Wow Skin Science

Personal care brand Wow Skin Science appointed Sudeep Bansal as the vice president for the growth category. In his new role, Bansal will be responsible for driving growth across performance marketing, retention and products for their D2C platforms. That includes Body Cupid, WOW Skin Science, and WOW Life Science. Bansal has 15 years of experience and has worked across Reliance Communications, Coca-Cola and OLX Group. In May, Wow Skin Science raised primary capital from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Kuldeep Pawar

Previous: Head of Marketing and Senior Vice President, Spice Money

Present: Chief Marketing Officer, Spice Money

Spice Money promoted Kuldeep Pawar to the chief marketing officer. His responsibility would be to support the overall strategic objectives of Spice Money by developing comprehensive marketing and communication strategies. Pawar, who has an experience of more than a decade, has worked across Tata Docomo, Spice Mobiles Limited, Vodafone, Jio, Quick Heal and Niyo Solutions. A few days ago, Spice Money elevated Atul Tiwari to the position of chief human resources officer. 

Deepanjan Chattopadhyay

Previous: Director of Product Management, Freshworks

Present: Vice President - Product, Bizongo

360 degree food packaging solution Bizongo has appointed Deepanjan Chattopadhyay as the vice president of product category. In his new role, Chattopadhyay oversees the product strategy and implementation with an emphasis on managing market-focused product development, and driving innovation across Bizongo’s product roadmap. Chattopadhyay, who is armed with an experience of more than 15 years, has worked across Tata Consultancy Services, Symphony Services, Zyme and HighRadius. In March, Bizongo acquired internet-of-things startup Clean Slate. And, In January, Bizongo acquihired Bengaluru based cloud platform Hexa.

Sajith Sivanandan

Previous: Managing Director and Business Head, Google Pay and Next Billion User Initiatives, Asia Pacific

Present: Executive Vice President and Head, Disney+ Hotstar

Streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar recently appointed Sajith Sivanandan as the executive vice president and head. Sivanandan will assume his role in October, and his mandate would be to oversee Disney+ Hotstar’s overall business operations in India. This is with direct responsibility for defining the streaming service’s strategic business priorities and charting a product roadmap for the platform’s sustained, and exponential growth in the years ahead. Sivanandan will report to Rebecca Campbell, chairman of Disney’s International Content and Operations Group and K Madhavan, president.

Further, he will also work closely with local leadership in international markets as well as with the Disney+ team in the US. Sivanandan, who has an experience of more than two decades, has worked across Star TV, The Gallup Organization, Affle UK Ltd and XA Network. 

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Peeyush Dubey

Previous: EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Larsen & Toubro Infotech

Present: Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, TheMathCompany

Illinois headquartered global data analytics and engineering firm, TheMathCompany has appointed Peeyush Dubey as the chief marketing and strategy officer. In his new role, Dubey will lead planning and execution of strategy, marketing, and communications functions. Dubey has more than two decades of experience and has had stints atIGATE (now Capgemini), Infosys, Mindtree etc. In January, TheMathCompany got USD 50 million funding from Brighton Park Capital. 

Ajeet Shukla

Previous: Executive Creative Director, Publicis Worldwide India

Present: Group Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Creative India

Dentsu Creative India recently appointed Ajeet Shukla as the group executive creative director. In his new role, Shukla will drive Dentsu Creative’s global proposition to transform brands and businesses through the power of ‘Modern Creativity’ in the western region of the country. He will report to Aalap Desai, Chief Creative Officer, Taproot Dentsu and Isobar India. Shukla, who has more than 15 years of experience, has worked across Zee News, Havas Worldwide, FCB Ulka and Enormous Brands. He has also worked with brands like IPL, ZEE, Disney+ Hotstar, TATA Salt, Ferrero Rocher, Heineken, Amstel, Skoda, Aegon Life, Tata AIG, HDFC MF, HDFC Bank, BPCL, Mak Lubricant, CHINGS, ZEE5, Dish TV, Emami Navratna, Ghadi, among others. Recently, Dentsu Creative India appointed Summer Mathur as the chief strategy officer. Also, Publicis Worldwide India conceptualised a campaign for Skoda Auto India highlighting the Skoda Slavia model.

Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy

CXO Moves: From marketing chief to MD; Execs at Mercedes, GroupM, Havas, DisneyHotstar, move up, in and out

HAVAS