Kartik Sharma, T Gangadhar and Anand Chakravarthy get new roles as 'NewCo' will launch in India

Tim Castree, global CEO, MEC and CEO, 'NewCo', has announced that Kartik Sharma has been named as managing director of 'NewCo' when it launches in India in January 2018. Sharma was MD, Maxus South Asia prior to this. He will report to CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia and Tim Castree.

 

NewCo is the name currently given to the MEC-Maxus merger. Keeping in line with GroupM’s global strategy for NewCo, Maxus and MEC will merge into NewCo over the next few months. The new agency will launch in India on 1 January 2018. The agency is currently working with Maxus and MEC's teams to towards a smooth transition.

 

Castree said, “We’re creating a brand new billion-dollar revenue media, content and technology agency, dubbed ‘NewCo’ for now. With such ambition, comes a need for brilliant talent to lead and inspire, and so today’s news is very exciting for us. Under Kartik's leadership, I am confident that we will have the right team in place to truly make NewCo a formidable future-facing agency in India and South Asia.” 

 

Christian Juhl, global CEO, Essence, announced that T. Gangadhar, current managing director of MEC South Asia, will be chairman of India and managing director of North Asia, Essence. Gangadhar will report to Kyoko Matsushita, CEO of Essence Apac. He will continue to be based in Mumbai.

 

Anand Chakravarthy, who was managing partner at Maxus India since 2015, will be managing director of Essence India. Chakravarthy will report to Gangadhar and Matsushita and will work closely with the regional leadership in his new role.

 

Both Gangadhar and Chakravarthy will assume their new roles by January 2018. 

 

The Essence teams will be strongly supported by the GroupM network as they look to expand their presence in market.  

 

Juhl said, “India is such an important market for so many of our clients whose business challenges we work tirelessly to solve.  Essence has built its credibility on being a data-centric agency that infuses technology and measurement across all media.  We’re excited to expand our geographic footprint and apply our unique approach for our global clients looking for relevance in India.  Gangadhar and Anand are experienced leaders who will help expand our presence.”