Eye-catching agency hires of 2024

The advertising industry in India experienced several leadership moves throughout the year, with agencies firming up their core teams with top management hires. From creative geniuses to leaders with sharp business acumen, these hires signify organisational transformation capabilities that agencies were looking to bring in during 2024.

These appointments also show how agencies are focusing on onboarding capabilities in strategy, creative brilliance, and digital expertise. Here are some key movers and shakers on the year.

John Thangaraj

Agency: Havas Creative Network India

Role: Chief strategy officer

Havas India appointed John Thangaraj as chief strategy officer of Havas Creative Network India. His remit included Havas Worldwide India, Havas CX India, Conran Design Mumbai, Ekino, and Havas People India. Based in Gurugram, he reported to Rana Barua, group CEO of Havas India, Southeast Asia and North Asia.

Thangaraj brought experience across consumer research, marketing, advertising and media. He started his career in PR in 2002 and worked with Adidas managing the Originals brand launch in India. He then moved to Rediffusion Y&R as head of strategic planning.

At MullenLowe Lintas Group, he worked with brands including Hindustan Times and Nestle. At Mindshare, he led strategic initiatives for clients such as Pepsico and Lufthansa. Most recently at FCB Group India, he worked with brands like Google, Uber, Bata, Pernod Ricard, and Vistara.

Aman Mannan and Shitu Patil

Agency: Publicis India

Role: Joint national creative directors

Publicis India appointed Aman Mannan and Shitu Patil as joint national creative directors. In their new roles, they lead the creative vision for all brands at Publicis India and report to managing director, Oindrila Roy.

Mannan had 25 years of experience across agencies like Interface Communication, McCann Erickson, DDB Mudra Group and Leo Burnett India. His work earned recognition at Cannes, The One Show, Clios, and other events. He worked with brands including P&G, Unilever, and Coca-Cola.

Patil brought 23 years of advertising experience, having worked with Lowe Lintas, FCB and Publicis Ambience. She also ran her design agency, Plus One. Her portfolio included work for Lakme, Raymond, Cartier, and Renault.

Rishu Verma

Agency: Rediffusion

Role: Senior vice president and CEO, Konjo

Rediffusion appointed Rishu Verma as senior vice president and CEO of Konjo, a vertical dedicated to supporting startups with strategic brand and business growth solutions. Verma brought his 20 years of advertising and marketing experience to the firm, with his past roles at Ogilvy, JWT, Leo Burnett, and Tata Motors, and Dentsu, Malaysia managing accounts such as Toyota and Telekom Malaysia.

Monica Ledwani and Rishi Bhargava

Agency: Dept

Roles: ‘Director of customer experience’ and ‘Head of solutions consulting, respectively.

Global digital agency Dept announced two senior appointments in India. Monica Ledwani joined as director of customer experience and Rishi Bhargava as head of solutions consulting. Both reported to Yash Mody, chief technology officer of Dept APAC.

Ledwani had experience across IT, BFSI, Edtech and manufacturing sectors, with previous roles at Edelweiss and Ceat Tyres. Based in Mumbai, she spearheaded digital transformation for Dept clients.

Bhargava brought over two decades of experience in managing enterprise customers. In his previous roles at IBM and Adobe, he implemented digital experience solutions. Based in Bengaluru, his mandate included expanding and strengthening Dept’s Adobe practice.

Mimi Deb

Agency: Madison Media Plus

Role: COO

Madison Media appointed Mimi Deb as COO of Madison Media Plus, heading the Delhi Branch. She reported to Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO of Madison Media & OOH. Deb brought more than 25 years of experience in media and communications. Her career included roles at GroupM, Publicis, Universal McCann, and Alchemist Group, where she served as Managing Consultant.

Deb's background covered FMCG, Lifestyle & Luxury segments, and Digital-first businesses. She worked with clients including Haleon, RSPL, Perfetti, OLX, Mother Dairy, GoDaddy, and Dabur. She held an advanced management programme degree from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Nivedita Lahiri

Agency: FCB Ulka

Role: Senior vice president

FCB Ulka, an agency under FCB Group India, appointed Nivedita Lahiri as its senior vice president in November 2024. Lahiri’s appointment brought 17 years of diverse category experience to the agency. Her career spans across FMCG, finance, real estate, and airline sectors. During this period, she worked in various leadership roles for brands such as Cadbury, Ferrero, Kotak Life Insurance, and Birla Mutual Funds.

Babita Baruah

Agency: VML

Role: Chief executive officer for India

VML appointed Babita Baruah as Chief Executive Officer of India effective March 1, 2024, while Saurabh Saksena was elevated to the role of President. The announcement came as Shamsuddin Jasani stepped down from his role as CEO at Wunderman Thompson South Asia. Baruah joined VML India from a dual role working across WPP’s Ford International Market Group as regional client lead and executive director at VMLY&R Thailand.

Her career spanned 25 years in marketing and advertising, beginning at JWT/Wunderman Thompson India, where she spent two decades leading global and local brands. Saksena brought 30 years of experience delivering business growth across five agencies, including Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R.

Rohit Thakkar

Agency: Crayons Advertising

Role: Vice president–revenue and growth

Crayons Advertising hired Rohit Thakkar as revenue and growth vice president in October 2024. Thakkar’s return to Crayons Advertising as vice president for revenue and growth marks a homecoming. He had previously worked in Crayons for about five years till 2019.

His 22-year industry experience includes leadership roles at various advertising agencies and brands including Bharat Media & Entertainment Group, Mirum India, Mode Advertising & Marketing, Aptech, Saarthi Advertising, TDI International, and MX Advertising. Based in Mumbai, Thakkar will focus on advancing the agency’s growth initiatives.

Abhirup Datta

Agency: Dentsu India

Role: CEO–Performance Media Solutions

Dentsu India appointed Abhirup Datta as chief executive officer of Performance Media Solutions. Datta led Dentsu Performance 2.0, enhancing the network’s performance marketing capabilities and driving sales growth for Sokrati. He collaborated with Nilesh Gohil, president of performance practice and CEO of Sokrati, reporting to Anita Kotwani, CEO of Media - South Asia.

Datta brought over 20 years of experience across retail, telecom, travel, and media sectors. Previously, he led app growth and revenue initiatives at ZEE5 and held leadership roles at Disney Star, TUI India, HT Media, and Bharti Retail.

Shashank Lanjekar

Agency: DDB Mudra Group

Role: National strategy head

DDB Mudra Group appointed Shashank Lanjekar as national strategy head, based in Mumbai. Lanjekar brought over 25 years of experience in advertising, brand management, and strategic planning. He worked with leadership teams to upgrade products, create value and drive growth for brands.He collaborated with Rahul Mathew, chief creative officer, to advance strategic offerings across disciplines.

Before joining DDB Mudra Group, Lanjekar served as Chief Strategy Officer at VML India where he led strategy for accounts like IDFC First Bank and Titan Skinn. He previously held the same position at Dentsu.

Anupam Chauhan

Agency: FCB India

Role: Executive vice president

Anupam Chauhan was appointed as executive vice president by FCB India in November 2024. With over 20 years of experience working with brands like American Express, SC Johnson, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Zomato, Chauhan’s career has been marked by numerous awards including Effies, Spikes Asia, and Cannes Lions. Chauhan’s experience and leadership qualities were seen as key assets to the agency’s growth and transformation goals.

Sonal Chhajerh and Pravin Sutar

Agency: Leo Burnett

Roles: National creative directors

Leo Burnett India elevated Sonal Chhajerh and Pravin Sutar as national creative directors. In their previous roles, Chhajerh was group executive creative director and Sutar was Head of Creative, Leo Burnett Bangalore.

Both continued reporting to Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia and Chairman Leo Burnett South Asia. Chhajerh led the P&G Whisper account. Sutar headed the creative team in Bangalore, managing brands including Ikea, ACKO, RedBus, Kingfisher, Heineken, and Lenovo.

Praseed Prasad

Agency: GroupM India

Role: Chief growth officer

GroupM India appointed Praseed Prasad as chief growth officer to lead growth, marketing and communications. Based in Bangalore, he reported to Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia. The appointment marked Prasad’s return to GroupM.

Before joining IceCream Labs in 2015, he headed digital trading and oversaw digital investments for GroupM clients. His background included roles at Flipkart, where he ran an ad agency business and led media partnerships, and at Google, where he managed media operations for EMEA markets and ran the Google APAC agency business.

Abhinav Kaushik

Agency: VML India

Role: Growth partner and managing partner for the western region

VML India appointed Abhinav Kaushik as the growth partner and the managing partner for the western region. Kaushik previously served as president of FCB Group India. He began his career at GE Capital as an area sales manager, later expanding his experience with roles at Contract Advertising, M&C Saatchi London, J. Walter Thompson, and Dentsu. At FCB Group India, he oversaw business operations and resources, driving profitability, managing P&L, and spearheading growth initiatives.